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From  a photograph  by  Marcum 


In  His  Eightieth  Year 


CAMP  LIFE 


In  The  Civil  War 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Infantry 


BY  CAPTAIN  WILLIAM  A.  MOWRY 


PRIVATELY  PUBLISHED 
BOSTON,  1914 


DEDICATION. 


To  my  beloved  and  esteemed  Lieutenants, 
Sergeants,  Corporals,  and  every  Private  now 
living,  who  served  with  me  in  Company  K, 
11th  Regiment,  Rhode  Island  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, in  the  Civil  War,  and  to  the  memory 
of  all  those  who  have  been  mustered  out  of 
life’s  service,  I dedicate  this  booklet. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

CAMP  LIFE 1 

CONDITIONS  AT  THAT  TIME  ...  2 

THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  RAISES  THREE  COMPANIES  3 

MY  FIRST  COMPANY  DRILL  ...  4 

OFFICERS’  DRILL  — THE  COLONEL  DECIDES  7 
CAPTAIN  DRILLS  “STACK  ARMS”  BY  CASEY  7 

COMPANY  K 8 

COMPANY  K’s  OCCUPATIONS  ...  9 

REGIMENTAL  STATISTICS  ...  9 

A BRICK  OVEN  — BAKED  BEANS  . . 11 

THE  STORY  OF  A CHAPLAIN  . . . 12 

MEANS  TO  AN  END 15 

THE  CHAPLAIN’S  SERMON  . . . 16 

THE  COLONEL  A MEMBER  OF  THE  ANANIAS 

SOCIETY 17 

PICKET  DUTY 18 

THE  WOODWORTH  FAMILY  . . . 19 

VISIT  TO  THE  WOODWORTHS  ...  20 

MR.  WOODWORTH’S  EXPERIENCE  . . 21 

KEEPING  WARM  ON  PICKET  . . . 24 

MECHANICS  HALL 25 

THE  STUART  FAMILY  . . . . 26 

LONGSTREE.T  BESIEGES  SUFFOLK  . . 28 

CROW’S  NEST  IN  THE  PINE  TREE  . . 28 

LONGSTREET’S  STORY  OF  THE  PINE  TREE  29 
ANOTHER  CROW’S  NEST  . . . 31 

LONGSTREET  LEAVES  US  . . . 33 


CONTENTS  — Continued, 


PAGE 

LONG  MARCHES 33 

A QUIET  FORENOON  ....  37 

THE  SKIRMISH 38 

OUR  CAMP  JOURNAL  ....  43 

DESERTED  HOUSE 44 

WINDSOR 45 

ANTIOCH  CHURCH  . . . . 45 

MARCH  TO  WINDSOR  STATION  . . . 42 

MILLS  BARRETT’S  PLANTATION  . . 50 

MARY  AND  HER  CHILDREN  ...  51 

“THERE  ’S  MANY  A SLIP”  ...  52 

MARY  REACHES  SUFFOLK  ...  54 

A HALF-WITTED,  POOR  WHITE  . . 56 

THE  COLORED  BOY,  GEORGE  VAUGHAN  . 56 

GEORGE  VAUGHAN,  SENIOR  . . . 59 

YOUNG  GEORGE  AGAIN  ....  61 

OFF  TO  YORKTOWN  AND  WILLIMSBURG  . 63 

THE  MAJOR’S  PASS  TO  WILLIAMSBURG  . 65 

THE  CAPTAIN’S  PASS  ....  66 

THE  WOMEN  OF  WILLIAMSBURG  . . 66 

PRESIDENT  EWELL  ....  67 

PHI  BETA  KAPPA 67 

OUR  FACES  TURN  HOMEWARD  . . 69 

OUR  BRILLIANT  RECEPTION  AND  MUSTER 

OUT 76 

OUR  REGIMENT 70 

SOME  PRIVATE  SOLDIERS  IN  COMPANY  K 71 

CLOSING  REFLECTIONS  . . . 73 

THE  SERVICE  WE  RENDERED  . . . 74 
COMMISSIONED  OFFICERS  ...  77 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  story  of  the  Civil  War  of  1861- ’65  has 
been  wonderfully  well  written.  The  published 
accounts  include  general  histories,  histories 
by  states,  by  army  corps,  brigades  and  regi- 
ments. 

These  books,  however,  deal  mainly  in 
military  manceuvers,  campaigns  and  battles. 
But,  in  these  days  of  peace  propagandism  the 
public  mind  very  properly  turns  away  from 
tales  of  slaughter,  and  desires  to  hear  more 
of  the  soldier ’s  life  — his  camp  life,  his 
marches,  picket  duty,  etc. 

My  life  as  a soldier  in  the  Union  army 
began  in  September,  1862,  and  ended  by  ‘ ‘ Ex- 
piration of  term  of  service”  in  July,  1863.  I 
enlisted  as  a private,  was  commissioned  as 
captain  of  Company  K in  the  11th  Rhode 
Island  Volunteer  Infantry.  My  company 


VIII 


Introduction. 


and  myself  were  extremely  fortunate  in  our 
officers,  both  commissioned  and  warrant 
officers.  My  lieutenants  were  as  follows: 
First  lieutenant,  James  T.  Edwards;  second 
lieutenant,  Samuel  Thurber.  Sergeants,  as 
follows:  William  W.  Thomson,  John  P. 
Pond,  Daniel  J.  Viall,  William  H.  Hedley, 
Myron  S.  Clark;  Corporals,  William  E.  Mil- 
lard, Orlando  P.  Thomson,  Royal  E.  Jones, 
James  Bowden,  Joseph  E.  Brown,  George 
Chase,  Augustus  W.  Winsor  Jr.,  Robert 
Lauder. 

First  Lieut.  Edwards  resigned  on  the  26th 
of  March,  1863,  and  Lieut.  Thurber  was 
commissioned  first  lieutenant,  and  served 
through  the  term  of  service. 

John  Pitman,  son  of  Lieut.  Colonel  Pit- 
man was  commissioned  as  second  lieutenant, 
and  served  till  our  muster  out  in  July. 

During  the  first  six  months  the  officers  of 
Company  K had  a Schoolmaster’s  Mess. 
The  captain  was  the  principal  of  the  English 
High  School,  Providence.  First  Lieut.  Ed- 
wards was  principal  of  the  Academy  at  East 
Greenwich,  and  Lieut.  Thurber  was  a teacher 
in  the  Providence  High  School. 


Introduction. 


ix 


Here  I beg  to  mention  some  facts  of  the 
subsequent  life  of  these  officers : — 

Lieut.  Edwards  was  principal  of  the  East 
Greenwich  Academy,  later  principal  of  the 
Chamberlain  Institute,  in  Randolph,  N.  Y. ; 
then  superintendent  McDonogh  School  near 
Baltimore,  Md. ; field  secretary  of  the  Chau- 
tauqua System  of  Education;  member  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Senate  six  years;  of  the  New 
York  Senate  two  years ; delegate  to  the  South- 
ern Laymen’s  District  Convention,  Philadel- 
phia, 1866;  presidential  elector,  1868;  vice- 
president  Chautauqua  Board  of  Trustees ; 
member  of  Congress  of  Religions,  1893 ; 
president  Western  New  York  Agricultural 
Society;  and  the  author  of  a variety  of  books, 
pamphlets  and  magazine  articles.  He  was 
a graduate  of  the  Wesleyan  University, 
Middletown,  Conn.,  A.M.,  D.D.,  LL.D.  He  is 
still  living  (1914)  in  Randolph,  N.  Y.,  — an 
invalid. 

Lieut-  Thurber  was  a graduate  of  Brown 
University,  in  the  class  of  1858.  His  alma 
mater  later  gave  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Philosophy.  Lieut.  Thurber  after  his  ser- 
vice in  the  Providence  High  School  was  prin- 


X 


Introduction. 


cipal  of  the  Hyde  Park,  Mass.,  High  School; 
of  the  High  School  in  Bangor,  Me. ; in  Syra- 
cuse, N.  Y. ; Worcester,  Mass.;  in  Milton, 
Mass.,  and  for  about  twenty-five  years  master 
of  the  Girls’  High  School,  Boston. 

Lieut.  Thurber  was  a rare  scholar  and 
teacher  of  English,  French  and  German,  the 
ancient,  classical  languages,  and  all  the 
studies  of  the  secondary  school  and  college. 
He  died  January  13,  1913,  at  the  home  of  his 
daughter  in  Roxbury,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
nearly  seventy-six  years.  A splendid  me- 
morial has  been  issued  by  his  friends. 

Of  Lieut.  John  Pitman  an  equally  interest- 
ing story  could  be  told.  After  his  experience 
with  the  11th  Rhode  Island,  as  sergeant 
major  and  lieutenant,  he  entered  the  United 
States  Military  Academy  at  West  Point, 
graduated  in  1867,  was  commissioned  first 
lieutenant  in  1874,  captain  in  1878,  major  in 
1894,  lieutenant  colonel  in  1903,  colonel  in 
1904,  retired  and  advanced  to  rank  of  briga- 
dier general  in  1906.  He  is  now  living  in 
Orange,  N.  J.  He  has  served  in  various  ar- 
senals, ordnance  depots,  foundry  duty  at  Cold 
Spring,  N.  Y.,  and  instructor  in  chemistry  at 


Introduction. 


xi 


West  Point.  He  is  a member  of  the  Loyal 
Legion,  American  Chemical  Society,  and 
Society  of  Chemical  Industry. 

Captain  William  A.  Mowry  was  a gradu- 
ate of  Brown  University,  class  of  1858,  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  A.M.,  Brown,  1866 ; Ph.D. 
from  Bates,  in  1882,  LL.D.  from  Whitman, 
1906.  He  was  principal  of  the  English  High 
School,  Providence,  five  years,  and  from  1864 
to  1884,  senior  principal  of  the  English  and 
Classical  School,  a private  academy  in  Provi 
dence.  This  school  he  founded,  and  opened, 
on  the  22nd  of  February,  1864.  It  was  de- 
signed to  fit  boys  for  college  or  business.  It 
grew  till,  when  he  left  it  in  1884,  it  numbered 
two  hundred  and  fifty  pupils  and  had  fifteen 
competent,  superior  teachers. 

In  1884  Capt.  Mowry  moved  to  Boston, 
and  for  many  years  filled  the  editor’s  chair, 
editing  and  publishing  “The  Journal  of  Edu- 
cation,” and  later  the  magazine  “Education” 
and  “Common  School  Education.”  He  was 
superintendent  of  schools  in  the  city  of  Salem, 
Mass.,  and  in  1894  removed  to  Hyde  Park, 
where  he  now  lives.  He  has  served  as  teacher 
more  than  thirty  years,  was  superintendent  of 


XII 


« 


Introduction. 


the  schools  of  Cranston,  R.  I.,  and  of  Salem, 
Mass.,  was  a member  of  the  School  Board  of 
Providence  six  years  and  of  the  Boston 
Board  three  years.  He  has  lectured  widely, 
especially  before  teachers’  institutes,  having 
given  about  two  thousand  lectures  in  twenty- 
five  states.  He  is  a member  of  the  A.  I.  of  X, 
the  N.  E.  A.,  the  G.  A.  R.,  and  the  Loyal 
Legion.  He  has  written  many  books,  pam- 
phlets, magazine  and  newspaper  articles. 
Among  the  books  written  by  him  are  his- 
tories, biographies,  school  reading  books, 
civil  government  and  latest  of  all  “Recollec- 
tions of  a New  England  Educator.” 

Our  First  Sergeant,  William  W.  Thom- 
son, was  a fine  officer,  faithful,  reliable,  popu- 
lar with  officers  and  men.  He  died  soon  after 
his  term  of  service  in  the  army,  beloved  and 
mourned  by  all  who  knew  him. 

The  second  sergeant,  John  P.  Pond,  was 
a young  student  in  the  East  Greenwich 
Academy.  He  was  bright,  keen,  sterling,  and 
every  way  reliable.  Faithful  to  every  duty, 
kind  and  courteous  to  all,  he  won  most  favor- 
able opinions  from  everybody  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact.  He  enlisted  again,  I think, 


Introduction. 


xhi 


in  a New  York  regiment,  and  soon  I heard 
of  his  too  early  death. 

Daniel  J.  Viall  was  the  third  on  onr  list  of 
sergeants.  Earnest,  bold,  resolute,  prompt, 
energetic  ready  for  every  duty.  Not  always 
so  popular  as  the  first  and  second  sergeants 
were,  because  he  was  of  a different  tempera- 
ment. He  was  earnest  and  impulsive.  But 
he  was  a good  officer. 

Then  there  was  Sergeant  Hedley,  — easy 
going,  gentle,  pleasant  and  agreeable. 

Finally,  Sergeant  Clark  was  true  as  steel, 
clear  cut,  quiet,  earnest,  devoted  to  duty. 
After  this  campaign  he  went  west.  I have 
been  told  that  he  lived  in  Portland,  Ore., 
and  lately  the  news  has  come  of  his  death  in 
California.  He  was  a good  soldier. 

Of  others  I have  spoken  in  the  last  chapter 
of  these  sketches. 

LIVING  MEMBERS 

of  Company  K at  the  present  time  (1913)  so 
far  as  known.  Probably  not  all  of  these  are 
still  living,  but  we  have  not  heard  of  their 
death. 


XIV 


Introduction. 


Capt.  William  A.  Mowry,  Hyde  Park,  Mass. 

First  Lieut.  James  T.  Edwards,  Randolph, 
N.  Y. 

Second  Lieut.  John  Pitman,  167  Berkeley 
Avenue,  Orange,  N.  J. 

Sergeant  Wm.  H.  Hedley,  1 Searles  Street, 
Providence,  R.  I. 

Corporal  Orlando  P.  Thomson,  106  High- 
wood  Avenue,  Ridgewood,  N.  J. 

Corporal.  George  W.  Chase,  28  Burnett 
Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Private  Orin  S.  Arnold,  Killingly,  Conn. 

Private  Albert  H.  Chase,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Private  William  R.  Cornell,  142  Ontario 
Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Private  Henry  H.  Fisher,  Soldiers’  Home, 
Bristol,  R.  I. 

Private  Otto  Gerlach,  466  Fountain  Street, 
Providence,  R.  I. 

Private  Henry  F.  Greene. 

Private  Thomas  L.  Goff,  40  Wickendon 
Street,  Providence. 

Private  Josiah  R.  Goddard,  Missionary, 

Ningpo,  China.  (Reported  dead  in  1914.) 

Private  Frank  D.  Holmes,  31  Franklin 
Street,  South  Framingham,  Mass. 


Introduction. 


xv 


Private  George  W.  Kent,  Pawtucket,  E.  I. 
Private  Joseph  H.  Leach,  New  Bedford, 
Mass. 

Private  Edward  A.  Palmer. 

Private  Henry  F.  Taylor,  314  South  Street, 
Pittsfield,  Mass. 

Private  Samuel  J.  Townsend,  Brockton, 
Mass. 

Private  Walter  E.  D.  Vaughan,  78  Stanwood 
Street,  Providence,  E.  I. 

About  twenty  per  cent,  of  this  company 
alive  after  more  than  half  a century  has 
elapsed  since  their  muster  out  of  the  service. 


CAMP  LIFE  IN  THE  11TH  R.  I.  REGI- 
MENT. 


Today  I am  engaged  with  reflections  of 
1861- ’65.  I honor  the  brave  boys  who  en- 
listed in  ’61,  ’62,  ’63,  in  the  war  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Union  of  this  great  Republic. 

I recall  vividly  the  day  when  the  First 
Rhode  Island  started  for  Washington.  It 
was  on  the  20tli  of  April,  1861.  They  boarded 
a steamboat  at  Fox  Point,  and  amid  the 
booming  of  cannon  and  the  music  of  the  band, 
sailed  away  for  the  seat  of  war.  A beautiful 
national  flag  had  been  presented  to  the  regi- 
ment by  the  ladies  of  Providence.  At  the 
battle  of  Bull  Run  that  flag  was  perforated 
by  eleven  rebel  bullets. 

I closed  my  room  in  the  High  School  to 
allow  myself  and  the  boys  to  witness  the  de- 
parture of  the  regiment.  After  they  had 


9 


Camp  Life. 


sailed  away,  while  I was  walking  up  Benefit 
Street,  a friend  saluted  me  and  asked,  “When 
are  you  going  to  enlist,  Mr.  Mowry?”  In- 
stantly I reflected  that  in  the  Mexican  War 
the  six  New  England  States  sent  one  regi- 
ment, in  which  was  one  platoon  from  Rhode 
Island.  Half  a company  from  our  state! 
My  answer  was : ‘ ‘ Oh,  I guess  I ’ll  go  in  the 
Fifth  Regiment.  ’ ’ I thought  that  answer  was 
safe  for  me.  But,  I did  not  enlist  till  the 
Eleventh  was  called  for,  in  the  early  autumn 
of  1862. 

Conditions  at  That  Time. 

That  summer  was  a time  of  great  sorrow 
and  doubt  among  the  loyal  people  of  this 
country.  McClellan’s  great  army  had  pushed 
its  way  to  within  a few  miles  of  Richmond, 
but  had  failed  to  capture  that  city,  the  capital 
of  the  Confederacy,  and  the  army  had  been 
called  back  from  the  James  River  to  the 
Potomac.  Those  were  blue  days.  Army 
affairs  were  extremely  discouraging. 

On  the  4th  of  August,  1862,  President 
Lincoln  issued  a call  for  300,000  men  to  serve 
for  a period  of  nine  months. 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment.  3 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Raises  Three  Companies. 

Then  the  people  of  Providence  began  to 
stir  themselves.  The  Young  Men’s  Christian 
Association  of  that  city  appointed  a com- 
mittee to  raise  a company  of  volunteers. 

Early  in  September  several  young  men 
agreed  to  enlist,  including  the  writer  of  this 
paper. 

We  planned  meetings  to  secure  enlist- 
ments. The  first  was  to  be  held  in  Roger 
Williams  Hall,  Providence,  on  the  following 
Monday  evening,  and  it  was  announced  that 
all  the  speaking  would  be  by  those  who  had 
already  volunteered.  This  meeting,  with 
speeches  made  by  volunteers  only,  was  re- 
peated, and  in  a few  days  we  had  enlisted 
three  hundred  men,  three  full  companies, 
two  of  which  were  attached  to  the  11th  Regi- 
ment as  Companies  I and  K and  the  third 
joined  the  12th  Regiment.  Captain  Joseph 
H.  Kendrick  commanded  Company  I and 
Captain  William  A.  Mowry  Company  K in 
the  Eleventh,  while  Captain  Edward  S. 
Cheney  was  placed  in  command  of  Company 
A in  the  Twelfth.  So  two  full  regiments  for 


4 


Camp  Life. 


nine  months  were  raised.  The  Eleventh  left 
Providence  for  Washington  on  Monday  even- 
ing, the  6th  of  October,  1862. 

My  First  Company  Drill. 

I shall  never  forget  the  first  time  I took 
my  company  out  to  drill.  It  was  just  after 
we  had  entered  Virginia.  So  far,  I had  left 
the  drilling  to  Lieut.  Edwards,  who  had  been 
drilled  himself  and  could  manage  the  ele- 
mentary movements  quite  well,  while  I was 
busy  getting  my  company  properly  equipped. 
I knew  nothing  whatever  of  the  drill. 

Now  the  time  had  come  for  me  to  take 
the  matter  in  hand.  I commanded  on  the 
march  and  had  served  one  day,  our  first  day 
in  Washington,  as  officer  of  the  day.  So  far 
I had  made  no  special  blunder.  Now,  what 
should  I take  up  for  my  first  drill?  I cer- 
tainly did  not  wish  to  try  the  manual  of  arms, 
for  the  lieutenant  had  drilled  them  in  the 
manual,  and  I — who  knew  nothing  whatever 
of  any  part  of  the  soldier’s  drilling  — did  not 
wish  to  offer  the  comparison.  Hence  I de- 
cided to  take  “stack  arms,”  which  had  not 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


5 


3ret  been  nnclertaken.  I studied  carefully 
“Casey’s  Tactics,”  on  making  and  breaking 
the  stack.  So,  there  we  were,  on  the  drill 
ground,  in  the  “Peach  Orchard,”  and  I be- 
gan the  drill.  Other  companies  were  drilling 
all  around  me. 

I began  carefully,  and  the  schoolmaster 
surely  could  master  that  intricate  movement. 
I had  learned  well  my  lesson  and  had  a small 
amount  of  confidence.  But  it  took  a long  time 
to  form  a good  line  of  stacks.  Finally,  that 
line  — a fairly  straight  line  — was  formed. 
Then  I gave  the  command  “Rest.” 

Just  after  the  command  had  been  spoken, 
another  captain,  a “light  infantry”  man, 
came  along  and  bluntly  addressed  me  as  fol- 
lows : — 

“Hello,  captain,  what  sort  of  a stack  is 
that1?  That  isn’t  the  way  to  stack  arms. 
You  should  do  it  this  way,”  and  he  rattled 
off  a mass  of  lingo  which  was  just  Choctaw 
to  me.  I did  not  know  the  meaning  at  all. 

What  could  I say?  Well,  I merely  re- 
plied: “Don’t  know  what  you  are  talking 
about.  That  stack  is  made  according  to  the 


( 3 


Camp  Life. 


Tactics.  That ’s  the  way  Casey  makes  a 
stack.'  * 

80,  the  captain  repeated  his  explanation 
of  how  a stack  should  be  made  and  left  me. 
Then  I called/  ‘ Attention,  company ! ’ ’ Every 
man  sprang  into  line.  “Take  Arms!”  It 
was  done.  We  went  on,  and  repeated  the 
same  thing,  as  though  nothing  had  been  said 
about  it.  We  made  a line  of  stacks  over  and 
ovei  again,  until,  when  the  drill  hour  was 
up,  the  company  could  make  a good  line  of 
stacks. 

. However,  I was  in  a very  nervous  state  of 
mind.  As  soon  as  possible  I went  over  to 
Company  I’s  headquarters  to  inquire  of  Capt. 
Kendrick,  for  he  was  a “Light  Infantry” 
man,  and  well  drilled.  I described,  as  well 
as  I could,  the  stack  that  my  brother  captain 
had  made. 

“Ah,”  said  he,  “he  has  followed  Hardee’s 
Tactics  and  you  have  followed  Casey’s.” 

“Well,  but  we  are  drilling  by  Casey’s , are 
we  not?  ” 

‘Yes,  that ’s  right.  The  army  used  to 
follow  Hardee’s  and  the  rebels  do  now,  hence 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


7 


our  army  lias  adopted  Casey’s  as  our  tac- 
tics.’’ 

Officers  ’ Drill  — The  Colonel  Decides. 

I began  to  feel  easier.  That  evening  we 
had  “Officers’  Drill”  in  the  Colonel’s  Mar- 
quee. After  the  drill  was  over,  some  one  in- 
quired of  Col.  Metcalf : — 

“Say,  Colonel,  wdiicli  sort  of  a stack  shall 
we  make,  Casey’s  or  Hardee’s?”  Then  came 
a long  discussion.  Some  preferring  Hardee’s 
and  some  Casey’s.  Arguments  were  given 
in  favor  of  one  and  the  other,  until  the  matter 
was  again  referred  to  the  colonel  for  his  de- 
cision. 

Col.  Metcalf  squirted  his  tobacco  juice, 
cleared  his  throat  and  quietly  said : — 

“Well,  gentlemen,  if  we  are  following 
Casey,  I suppose  we ’d  better  follow  Casey.  ’ ’ 

Captain  Drills  “Stack  Arms”  by  Casey. 

The  next  afternoon,  all  the  companies 
were  drilling  in  making  stacks.  And  my 
friend  and  brother  captain  had  to  learn  the 
Casey  stack  and  teach  his  company  how  to 
make  it. 


8 


Camp  Lite. 


You  may  easily  imagine  the  effect  of  this 
episode  on  my  reputation. 

That  captain  and  I became  fast  friends 
and  our  friendship  lasted  till  his  death— only 
a few  years  ago.  He  was  a good  man  and 
had  an  unusually  useful  life. 

Company  K,  11th  R.  I.  V. 

Let  me  pause  here  to  speak  of  my  com- 
pany — Company  K. 

Obsei^e,  this  was  one  of  the  three  com- 
panies recruited  in  Providence  by  the  Chris- 
tian Association.  In  the  city  of  Providence 
seven  companies  were  raised,  and  the  other 
companies  were  from  the  towns  of  North 
Providence,  Pawtucket,  Central  Falls  and 
Smithfield. 

I have  before  me  my  Descriptive  Roll 
Look.  I find  that  the  ninety-nine  enlisted 
men  gave  as  their  regular  business  forty-five 
different  answers.  Just  consider  what  that 
means.  Forty-five  different  kinds  of  busi- 
ness followed  by  ninety-nine  men.  I take 
pleasure  in  here  transcribing  the  different 
branches  of  industry  followed  by  these 
ninety-nine  men  . 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


9 


Company  K’s  Occupations. 

In  Company  K,  lltli  R.  I.  V.,  the  ninety- 
nine  enlisted  men  gave  their  regular  business 
as  follows : — 

Thirteen  carpenters,  ten  students,  eight 
clerks,  six  machinists,  five  farmers,  four  shoe- 
makers, three  mechanics,  three  moulders,  two 
masons,  two  oystermen,  two  silversmiths,  two 
blindmakers,  two  sailors,  two  expressmen, 
two  wheelwrights,  two  printers,  two  weavers, 
two  bakers,  one  rigger,  one  wiremaker,  one 
stonecutter,  one  teamster,  one  bobbin  turner, 
one  paperhanger,  one  filecutter,  one  wire- 
worker,  one  file  maker,  one  sailmaker,  one 
engineer,  one  switchman,  one  upholsterer, 
one  cabinetmaker,  one  merchant,  one  fireman, 
one  doctor,  one  edge-tool  worker,  one  jeweler, 
one  blacksmith,  one  car  painter,  one  apothe- 
cary, one  overseer,  one  organ  builder,  one 
musician,  one  tailor,  one  painter  — forty-five 
kinds  of  business. 

Regimental  Statistics. 

The  following  statistics  of  the  11th  Regi- 
ment, R.  I.  Vounteer  Infantry,  in  the  Civil 
"War,  1863,  were  taken  by  a noted  genealo- 


10 


Camp  Life. 


gist,  Mr.  Newman,  in  our  camp  on  Miner’s 


Hill,  Va. : — 

REG.  CO.  K. 

Artists 16  1 

The  Professions  16  2 

Painters 20  3 

Teachers  and  Students.  . 57  13 

Manufacturers 126  6 

Traders  23  1 

Clerks  S3  S 

Laborers  79  0 

Mechanics  35S  41 

* Miscellaneous  223  26 

Native  Born  77S  75 

Foreign  Born 224  26 

Married 483  49 

Unmarried 519  52 

Living  Children 965  95 

Whole  Number  of  Men.  . 1002  101 


•Farmers,  Sailors.  Butchers.  Fishermen,  etc. 

These  statistics  are  well  worth  our  study. 
The  comparison  of  the  record  of  Company  K 
with  the  entire  regiment  is  interesting.  It 
will  he  observed  that  the  number  of  * ‘ teachers 
and  students”  in  our  company  is  more  than 
twice  the  average  for  the  regiment.  The 
number  of  ** mechanics”  is  larger  than  the 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


11 


average,  while  the  number  of  tradesmen  is 
large  and  the  number  of  trades  represented 
is  very  large.  On  the  other  hand,  while  in 
the  regiment  seventy-nine  men  gave  their 
occupation  as  “laborers,”  not  one  such  is 
found  in  Company  K! 

The  number  of  foreign  bora  in  the  regi- 
ment is  a trifle  over  twenty-five  per  cent,  and 
in  Company  K the  same. 

A Brick  Oven  — Baked  Beans. 

One  day  in  the  Fall  of  1862,  Capt.  Ken- 
drick called  his  men  — Company  I — into  line 
and  marched  them  off  about  three  miles, 
armed  with  their  knapsack  straps  only.  They 
halted  by  the  side  of  the  ruins  of  a house 
that  had  been  burned.  The  bricks  from  the 
fallen  chimney  were  scattered  about.  The 
captain  directed  his  men  to  select  four  bricks 
each,  and  buckle  the  two  straps  around  them. 
This  being  done,  the  order  came:  “Shoulder 
bricks,”  “Forward  march!”  Back  to  camp 
they  came  and  dumped  the  bricks  .just  on  the 
line  next  to  Company  K.  Then  several  men 
of  Company  K dug  a trench  about  two  feet 
wide  and  six  feet  long,  when  my  best  stone 


12 


Camp  Life. 


mason,  Amos  Lee,  took  his  trowel  and  laid  a 
brick  arch,  built  a little  chimney  at  one  end, 
arranging  for  a door  at  the  other,  and,  we 
were  all  prepared  to  have  Boston  Baked 
Beans  for  the  two  companies  every  Satur- 
day night. 

The  Story  of  a Chaplain. 

There  was  a chaplain  in  a regiment,  en- 
camped not  far  from  us,  when  we  were  on 
Miner’s  Hill,  who  wanted  to  resign  and  go 
home.  But,  he  felt  quite  certain  that  his 
resignation  would  not  be  accepted.  Hence  a 
plan  to  bring  about  the  desired  result. 

One  Monday  evening  a rap  came  upon  the 
door  of  my  cottage,  and  on  opening  the  door 
I found  Lieut.  Colonel  Pitman  and  another 
officer,  who  was  at  once  introduced  to  me  as 
Chaplain  Blank  from  the  Blank  Regiment, 
who  wanted  to  find  a young  man  from  War- 
wick, R.  I.  The  chaplain  had  called  on  the 
colonel  to  inquire  for  Private  Greene  and  the 
adjutant  had  found  that  he  was  in  my  com- 
pany. Hence  the  colonel  had  brought  him 
over  and  introduced  him  to  me. 

I invited  him  in,  and  he  entered.  I gave 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


13 


liim  a chair  and  conversation  began.  He 
made  no  further  inquiry  for  Greene,  and,  so 
far  as  I know,  did  not  find  him  while  in  the 
army. 

I recall  much  of  the  conversation,  which 
interested  me  and  my  lieutenants  greatly.  It 
was  extremely  original  and  piquant.  Among 
other  things,  we  were  talking  of  the  war,  its 
causes  and  its  probable  results.  Now,  Mr. 
Blank  was  a whole-souled  anti-slavery  man, 
pronounced  in  his  opinions,  but  he  told  us 
that  the  war  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
slavery  question.  “Why,  then,  chaplain,  did 
you  leave  your  church  and  join  the  army?” 

“Be  obedient  to  the  Powers  that  be.  The 
Powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God.  ” This 
he  repeated  — always  with  the  same  words : 
“Be  obedient  to  the  Powers  that  be.  The 
Powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God.”  The 
rebels  had  violated  this  command  and  must 
be  subdued. 

He  stayed  till  nearly  twelve  o’clock,  and 
when  he  rose  to  leave,  I told  him  we  had 
greatly  enjoyed  his  call  and  hoped  he  would 
come  again. 

“Come  again?  Come  again?  Do  you 


14 


Camp  Life. 


mean  it?”  I assured  him  we  did  mean  it, 
and  hoped  he  would  call  often. 

“I  ’ll  come  again.  Yes,  I ’ll  come  again, 
on  one  condition.” 

“What ’s  that?” 

“It  is  that  when  I ’ve  stayed  long  enough 
you  ’ll  kick  me  out.” 

“Certainly,  chaplain,  we  ’ll  agree  to 
that.” 

“Well,  then,  I ’ll  come  again.” 

The  next  evening  he  was  there,  and  stayed 
late,  and  the  next,  and  he  came  every  evening 
during  that  week,  and  then  we  saw  no  more 
of  him. 

What  did  it  all  mean?  We  did  not  know. 
He  had  never  mentioned  Greene’s  name  and 
really  there  seemed  to  us  no  particular  reason 
for  those  six  consecutive  visits.  And  what 
had  become  of  him? 

All  this  was  a mystery  to  us,  till  we 
chanced  to  hear  that  the  chaplain  had  re- 
signed, his  resignation  had  been  accepted  and 
he  was  back  in  his  home,  again  ministering  to 
his  church. 

The  information  that  came  to  us,  with 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


15 


such  explanations  as  evidently  applied  to  the 
case  may  be  stated  as  follows : — 

Means  to  an  End. 

Some  time  after  that  famous  week,  there 
came  to  my  ears  an  explanation  of  the  chap- 
lain’s affairs.  It  appeared  that  during  the 
despondency  of  that  summer  of  1862,  like  a 
great  many  others  all  over  the  loyal  states, 
Mr.  Blank,  swayed  by  a strong  feeling  of 
loyalty  to  the  great  Republic  and  the  cause 
of  Union,  offered  himself  to  the  government 
and  was  appointed  chaplain  of  the  regiment, 
took  the  field  and  was  stationed  near  Miner’s 
Hill.  But,  after  spending  four  months  there, 
the  monotony  was  so  great  and  the  needs  of 
his  church  so  pressing  that  he  strongly 
wanted  to  resign. 

I suppose  many  right  here  would  say: 
“Well,  why  didn’t  he  resign?”  Simply  be- 
cause he  knew  that  his  resignation  would  not 
be  accepted.  Hence  he  must  find,  or  create, 
circumstances  which  would  secure  its  accept- 
ance. Hence,  he  laid  a plan,  which  he  felt 
reasonably  sure  would  bring  about  his  dis- 
charge from  the  service. 


16 


Camp  Life. 


The  Chaplain’s  Sekmon. 

Sunday  came,  and  the  regiment  was  drawn 
up  for  divine  service.  Mr.  Blank  took  for  his 
text  the  story  of  Ananius  and  Sappliira,  Acts 
5:3.  But  Peter  said,  “Ananias,  why  hath 
Satan  filled  thy  heart  to  lie  to  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  to  keep  back  part  of  the  price  of 
the  land!” 

The  sermon  began  with  a dissertation 
upon  the  sin  of  falsehood,  and  that  it  was 
a common  sin.  Moreover,  the  army  was  not 
free  from  it.  The  argument  was  continued 
something  after  this  fashion : — 

‘ ‘ This  regiment  is  a part  of  the  army  and 
this  regiment  is  not  without  sin. 

“But,  why  should  I preach  to  you  upon 
this  sin.  Lying  is  common  among  you.  You 
all  lie.  You  are  so  accustomed  to  lying  that 
you  scarcely  recognize  it.  The  privates  lie 
to  each  other  and  to  the  officers,  every  day. 
The  sergeants  lie  habitually.  Each  day,  at 
Dress  Parade,  the  first  sergeants  come  for- 
ward, salute  and  say:  ‘Company  A all  pres- 
ent or  accounted  for,’  when  he  knows  that 
three  or  four  men  are  off  somewhere,  on 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


17 


a drank.  The  captains  lie  systematically. 
Each  month  they  must  render  an  account  to 
Washington  of  all  their  equipments  and  gov- 
ernment property  in  their  possession.  But 
there  are  some  things  unaccounted  for,  and 
they  say,  under  oath,  that  they  were  lost  in 
the  march,  or  were  taken  by  the  enemy,  when 
they  know  it  is  a lie. 

“Or,  take  the  case  of  the  colonel”:  — 

The  Colonel  A Member  of  the  Ananias 
Society. 

He  is  a lawyer.  He  has  a case  in  court. 
He  wishes  leave  of  absence  to  try  the  case. 
He  asks  for  it  and  it  is  refused.  What  does 
he  do?  He  goes  to  Washington,  exchanges 
his  colonel’s  uniform  for  citizen’s  clothes, 
travels  to  his  home,  looks  after  the  case,  re- 
turns to  Washington,  dons  his  uniform,  joins 
his  regiment,  and  at  the  end  of  the  month 
makes  his  oath  that  he  has  been  on  duty  dur- 
ing the  entire  month.  ’ ’ 

It  is  not  difficult  to  suppose  that  the  chap- 
lain would  find  some  place  outside  of  his  regi- 
ment to  spend  the  evenings  of  that  week, 
which  he  did  in  the  headquarters  of  Company 


18 


Camp  Life. 


K,  lltli  R.  I..  It  is  also  easy  to  imagine  that 
his  resignation  would  be  promptly  accepted, 
which  was  the  case. 

Of  course,  I cannot  vouch  for  the  truth  of 
this  report,  but  it  is  here  given  as  the  story 
was  told,  shortly  after  the  chaplain  had  left 
the  regiment.  If  it  is  a correct  version  of 
what  happened,  it  certainly  shows  Chaplain 
Blank  as  represented  in  one  large,  American 
encyclopedia  as  “noted  for  his  eccentricities 
and  for  his  broad,  practical  philanthropy.” 
This  incident  clearly  shows  that  he  was  ex- 
centric,  and  from  personal  knowledge  I can 
vouch  for  his  “broad,  practical  philan- 
throphy.  ’ ’ 

Picket  Duty. 

t Tlie  life  on  picket  often  had  its  adventures. 
T\  e were  on  Miner’s  Hill  nearly  three  months 
and  about  once  a week  Company  K was  de- 
tailed for  picket  duty.  We  always  had  the 
same  picket  line.  It  was  on  the  Kirby  cross- 
road and  the  main  road  that  ran  from  Palls 
Church  to  Lewinsville. 

I well  remember  the  first  time  we  picketed 
this  line.  In  the  afternoon  a chaplain  from 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


19 


some  nearby  regiment  rode  up  and  presented 
Ms  pass  to  go  through  our  picket  lines. 

The  sergeant  referred  the  matter  to  me. 
His  pass  was  hardly  correct,  and  I made 
careful  inquiries,  for  the  picket  lines  should 
be  rigidly  guarded. 

The  Woodworth  Family. 

He  told  me  he  wanted  to  visit  a Union 
family  just  outside  of  our  lines.  It  was  the 
family  of  a Mr-  Woodworth,  who  had  come  to 
Virginia  from  New  York  state.  They  were 
Presbyterians  and  thoroughly  Union.  I 
passed  him  through  the  lines  and  on  his  re- 
turn a couple  of  hours  later  he  told  me  about 
the  Woodworth  family  and  advised  me  to  go 
out  and  call  on  them. 

The  next  time  we  were  on  picket,  Lieut. 
Edwards  and  I went  out  in  the  afternoon  to 
see  if  we  could  find  them. 

Having  passed  our  last  post,  we  scanned 
the  houses.  The  first  one  had  a broken-down 
fence,  pigs  in  the  front  yard  and  generally  a 
careless,  slovenly  appearance.  I said  to 
Lieut.  Edwards,  “No,  not  that  house  for  a 
Union  family  from  New  York.” 


20 


Camp  Life. 


The  next  was  one  of  the  same  sort.  Fin- 
ally, we  came  to  a modest,  one- story  cottage, 
with  green  blinds,  a neat  porch  in  front,  a 
nice  lawn,  curtains  at  the  windows.  I said, 
“Ah!  that  has  a Northern  look.  Let’s  in- 
quire. ’ ’ I rapped  on  the  door.  A young  lady 
opened  the  door  and  as  I looked  in  I instantly 
saw  several  things  that  I had  not  seen  before 
in  "V  irginia.  The  homes  we  had  been  in  had 
been  the  homes  of  small  farmers,  poorly  fur- 
nished and  generally  dilapidated.  Here  for 
the  lirst  time  since  crossing  the  Potomac  I 
saw  a lady  with  her  hair  properly  combed  and 
a white  collar  about  her  neck.  Here  I saw 
a carpet  on  the  floor,  paper  on  the  walls,  a 
heating  stove  in  the  sitting  room,  and  a cab- 
inet organ  next  the  wall. 

“Yes,  this  was  Mr.  Woodworth’s,”  and 
this  was  Miss  Wod  worth.  Wh  had  a very 
pleasant  call  and  later  made  other  visits,  not 
infrequently. 

Visit  to  the  Woodworths. 

We  told  such  stories  about  the  Wood- 
worths  that  one  evening  Captain  Kendrick, 
Lieut.  Snow,  and  Sergeant  Simmons,  accom- 


OAK  COTTAGE. 

Headquarters  Co,  K.  i I th  R,  I.  V.  Miner’s  Hill,  Virginia.  1862-3. 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


21 


panied  Lieut.  Edwards  and  myself  on  a visit 
to  the  Woodworth  home.  We  had  the  counter- 
sign and  with  it  properly  given  at  each  post 
we  passed  the  pickets,  soon  after  sunset,  and 
reached  the  Woodworth  place  early  in  the 
evening.  We  had  supper.  Ah!  that  white 
tablespread!  Biscuits  right  from  the  oven, 
white,  palatable,  nourishing.  It  seemed  like 
home.  Before  leaving  we  sang  “The  Star 
Spangled  Banner,”  “The  Sword  of  Bunker 
Hill,  ” “ America,  ’ ’ and  other  patriotic  songs, 
accompanied  by  the  melodion,  skillfully 
played  by  Miss  Woodworth.  We  all  enjoyed 
a call  at  the  Woodworths  whenever  we  had 
an  opportunity. 

Mb.  Woodworth’s  Experience. 

Mr.  Woodworth,  on  one  occasion,  was  pre- 
vailed on  to  tell  me  his  experience,  when  he 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  rebel  army.  I 
think  it  was  during  the  first  year  of  the  war, 
after  the  Bull  Run  battle.  The  rebels  held 
all  that  territory  where  he  lived  and  the 
Union  families,  so  far  as  possible,  left  their 
homes  and  went  within  the  Union  lines.  He 
and  his  family  went  to  Georgetown. 


22 


Camp  Life. 


A little  later  the  Confederates  were 
driven  away  and  everything  was  peaceful  in 
that  section.  So,  one  day  he  thought  he 
would  go  out  to  his  home  (about  ten  miles) 
and  see  how  everything  was.  He  called  on 
one  family  — members  of  the  same  church 
with  him  — and  found  no  man  there,  and 
that  the  family  had  no  firewood  at  their 
home.  He  took  their  horse  and  farm  wagon 
and  brought  them  a load  of  wood  from  the 
woods  where  it  had  been  corded.  Then  he 
had  dinner  and  after  that  went  out  to  the 
barn.  As  he  stood  in  the  barn  door  he  spied 
some  rebel  cavalry  coming  up  the  road.  Not 
supposing  that  they  had  seen  him  he  secreted 
himself  till  they  should  have  passed  by.  They 
had  seen  him,  and  hence  they  stopped  at  the 
barn  and  hunted  till  they  found  him.  They 
at  once  took  him  prisoner  and  carried  him  to 
Vienna,  where  a small  rebel  force  was  sta- 
tioned. From  there  he  was  sent  by  rail  to 
Richmond.  After  being  held  a prisoner  for 
about  six  weeks,  no  charge  being  made 
against  him  he  was  set  at  liberty.  But,  what 
was  he  to  do  ? He  had  no  means  of  transpor- 
tation, and  being  an  elderly  man  and  some- 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment.  23 

what  rheumatic  he  could  scarcely  walk  from 
Richmond  to  his  home. 

However,  he  watched  for  an  opportunity 
and  when  he  found  a railroad  train  going 
north  he  entered  a car  and  rode  until  they 
put  him  off.  Then  he  would  walk  on  till  he 
found  another  train,  on  which  he  would  ride 
till  he  was  again  put  off.  In  this  way  he 
reached  Vienna,  only  a few  miles  from  his 
home.  Here  the  rebel  forces  detained  him. 
He  was  obliged  to  shift  for  himself,  get  what 
he  could  to  eat,  and  sleep  where  he  could, 
often  on  the  bare  ground.  When  he  had 
been  in  this  condition  a few  weeks,  one  day  a 
Union  battery  was  planted  at  Lewinsville, 
near  his  home,  and  began  to  shell  the  rebels 
near  Vienna.  All  guards  were  called  in  and 
the  troops  skedaddled.  Now  was  Mr.  Wood- 
worth’s chance.  He  availed  himself  of  the 
opportunity  and  was  soon  at  his  own  home. 

The  old  man  told  me  that  he  never  stole 
anything  hut  once.  At  one  time  in  Richmond 
it  was  his  duty  to  carry  to  the  cook  potatoes 
for  cooking.  He  was  nearly  starved.  Those 
raw  potatoes  looked  so  tempting  to  him  that 


24 


Camp  Life. 


lie  put  a few  in  liis  pocket  and  afterwards 
ate  them  raw. 

Keeping  Warm  on  Picket. 

Our  picket  duty  on  this  line  was  per- 
formed in  November,  December  and  January. 
It  was  cold  weather.  After  our  first  assign- 
ment to  this  line,  whenever  we  went  out, 
every  set  of  six  men  always  wanted  the  same 
post  they  previously  had  occupied. 

On  one  occasion  after  the  picket  mount- 
ing when  we  started  for  the  picket  line,  I ob- 
served that  one  set  of  men  carried  with  them 
a pickax,  a crowbar,  shovels  and  other  tools. 
I said  to  them:  “What  are  you  going  to  do 
with  your  tools,  build  a railroad?”  “We’ll 
show  you,  captain.”  As  soon  as  they  were 
located  those  not  on  duty  began  work.  Their 
post  was  on  the  country  road,  in  the  middle 
of  a valley.  The  cold  wind  would  sweep 
down  through  that  valley,  and  they  had  no 
protection  — no  trees,  no  shelter. 

Well,  those  boys  suffered  with  cold  feet 
and  cold  hands.  Hence,  they  dug  out  a 
trench  about  six  or  eight  feet  long,  on  one 
side  of  the  road,  built  up  a stone  wall  nearly 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


25 


two  feet  high  on  either  side  of  the  trench, 
covered  it  over  with  fiat  stones,  put  earth  on 
top  of  these  stones  and  built  a chimney  at 
one  end.  Here,  then,  they  had  a furnace  for 
heating  the  surface  of  the  ground.  They 
kept  a good  fire  all  day  with  rails  found  near 
bv~  and  at  night  they  banked  the  fire,  stopped 
up  the  chimney  and  were  ready  for  the  cold 
night  winds.  The  men  on  duty  would  pur- 
sue their  beat,  stopping  midway  over  this 
underground  fire  and  get  comfortably  warm, 
continue  the  beat,  return  to  the  center,  again 
stop  and  get  warm,  and  then  keep  repeating 
the  operation.  No  fire  was  visible  during  the 
night,  but  the  bed  of  coals  would  continue  to 
give  heat  till  morning  dawned. 

Mechanics  Hall. 

On  another  occasion  as  we  started  for  the 
picket  line  another  set  of  men  carried  similar 
tools,  and  I wondered  what  was  in  the  wind 
this  time.  Their  post  was  where  the  country 
road  was  cut  across  a side  hill.  The  boys 
took  their  shovels  and  pick  and  dug  into  the 
hillside,  carving  out  a room  some  eight  feet 
square.  They  made  a flat  roof  of  rails  laid 


26 


Camp  Life. 


close  together,  which  they  covered  with  earth 
and  bushes.  The  front,  next  to  the  road,  they 
closed  up  with  rails,  leaving  a door  at  one 
corner,  and  hung  their  rubber  blankets  on 
the  inside,  so  that  no  light  could  be  seen  from 
the  outside.  At  the  rear  end  they  dug  out 
a fireplace,  with  the  ground  over  it  so  re- 
moved as  to  make  a chimney.  Here  they 
built  a fire,  which  warmed  the  room  nicely, 
even  in  the  coldest  weather.  Here  when  off 
duty  they  slept  in  real  comfort. 

I could  tell  of  many  devices  ingeniously 
planned  by  the  boys  by  which  they  secured 
comfort  even  in  performing  the  severest 
duties. 

The  Stuart  Family. 

Our  outermost  post  on  the  road  towards 
Lewinsville  was  directly  opposite  the  house 
of  a Mr.  Stuart.  The  Stuarts  were  called 
by  the  boys  “Secesli.”  Their  house  was 
back  from  the  road  a considerable  distance. 
Mrs.  Stuart  was  a sister  of  Jackson  who  shot 
Colonel  Ellsworth  in  Alexandria.  The  boys 
cherished  the  idea  that  the  rebels  visited  the 
Stuarts  to  receive  information  concerning 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


27 


our  troops  and  what  they  were  doing.  Hence, 
I placed  an  additional  post  in  the  field  in  the 
rear  of  the  Stuart  house.  That  night  in 
going  “grand  rounds”  I came  to  this  post  at 
about  three  o’clock.  The  boys  told  me  that 
everything  was  quiet  at  the  house  — no  dis- 
turbance. I left  the  post  on  my  return,  and 
as  I passed  the  corner  of  the  house  I observed 
some  one  coming  up  towards  the  house  from 
the  woods  beyond.  Of  course  I fancied  at 
once  a rebel  spy.  Instantly  I whipped  out 
my  revolver.  Then  the  object  was  so  obscure 
I thought  I would  get  a little  nearer.  I ad- 
vanced a short  distance  toward  the  stranger, 
while  he  came  on  very  cautiously  and  very 
slowly.  Still,  I thought  I must  approach 
nearer.  I did  so,  when,  all  at  once,  it  dawned 
upon  me,  that  the  object  before  me  was  not 
a rebel,  not  a man,  but  it  was  old  Stuart’s 
white  horse  grazing  in  the  field  of  grass. 

Hence,  I avoided  rousing  the  entire  picket 
line  by  a shot  from  my  revolver. 

But  I must  hasten.  I have  neither  time 
nor  space  to  give  a further  history  of  what 
happened  on  Miner’s  Hill,  nor  need  I re- 
hearse our  experiences  at  the  Convalescent 


28 


Camp  Life. 


Camp,  or  at  the  Distribution  Camp,  suffice  it 
to  say  that  we  left  Miner’s  Hill  on  the  14th 
of  January,  1863,  and  on  February  30,  two 
companies  (C  and  K)  moved  over  to  Distri- 
bution Camp.  On  April  16  our  regiment  took 
the  steamer  Hero  at  Alexandria  for  Norfolk, 
and  arrived  at  Suffolk  the  next  day  by  rail. 
Our  camp  was  there  from  April  17  till  June 
19,  when  we  left  Suffolk,  and  on  the  next 
day,  June  20,  arrived  at  Yorktown,  “on  the 
Penincli.  ” 

Longstreet  Beseiges  Suffolk. 

In  the  spring  of  1863  Longstreet  with 
some  thirty  or  forty  thousand  men  was  with- 
drawn from  Lee’s  army  and  marched  via 
Petersburg  to  the  Blackwater  river  and  Suf- 
folk. He  reached  Suffolk  about  the  12tli  of 
April,  and  at  once  swung  out  a battery  of 
artillery  on  the  slope  opposite  South  Quay 
Battery  and  opened  fire. 

Just  here  occurred  a little  incident,  worth 
relating. 

Crow’s  Nest  ix  the  Pine  Tree. 

Near  the  summit  of  that  slope,  and  just 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


29 


in  front  of  tlie  woods  was  a tall  pine  tree, 
which  our  forces  had  trimmed  up  and  near 
the  top  had  built  a platform,  or  “Crow’s 
Nest,”  for  use  as  a signal  station.  When  the 
advance  guard  of  Longstreet’s  army  came  in 
sight  the  signal  officer  in  that  tree  at  once 
saw  them,  caught  up  his  flag  and  signalled 
the  advance  of  the  enemy.  The  signal  officer 
in  town  instantly  saw  it  and  responded.  The 
long  roll  beat  and  in  less  than  five  minutes 
South  Quay  Battery  was  ready  for  defence. 
No  sooner  had  Longstreet’s  forces  appeared 
than  the  guns  of  our  battery  opened  a brisk 
fire  upon  them  and  soon  drove  them  off  under 
cover  of  the  dense  woods. 

Meanwhile,  as  soon  as  that  signal  officer 
had  received  recognition  from  the  signal  sta- 
tion in  the  town  he  ran  down  the  ladder, 
jumped  upon  his  horse  and  cantered  away 
inside  of  our  lines.  He  was  fired  at  by  Long- 
street ’s  men,  but  was  not  hit,  and  in  a very 
few  minutes  was  safe  behind  our  breast 
works. 

Longstreet’s  Story  of  the  Pine  Tree. 

Longstreet,  in  his  history  of  the  war,  en- 


30 


Camp  Life. 


titled  “From  Manassas  to  Appomattox,’' 
tells  another  incident  concerning  this  signal 
station.  He  says : “To  gratify  his  curiosity  a 
Confederate  soldier  climbed  to  the  staging 
and  seated  himself  for  a leisurely  view  of 
the  Federal  forces  inside  their  works.  An 
artillerist  of  the  other  side  trained  one  of  his 
rifle  guns  upon  the  platform  and  sent  a shell 
screaming  and  bursting  too  near  for  the  com- 
fort of  the  man  up  a tree.  As  he  did  not  care 
to  be  seen  in  precipitate  retreat,  he  thought 
to  wait  a little,  but  a second  shot  admonished 
him  that  hurry,  if  less  graceful,  might  be 
more  wise  than  deliberate  retreat.  Acting 
under  pressure  of  the  situation,  his  legs,  to 
the  amusement  of  the  men  on  both  sides,  soon 
brought  him  to  safe  cover.  When  night  closed 
in  over  the  belligerants  this  soldier  went  to 
work  on  a scheme  by  which  he  hoped  to  get 
even  with  the  Yankees.  He  carefully  con- 
structed and  equipped  a full-sized  man, 
dressed  in  a new  suit  of  ‘butternut  colored’ 
dry-goods  and  in  due  form  christening  him 
‘ J ulius  Caesar,  ’ took  him  to  the  platform,  ad- 
justed him  to  a graceful  position  and  made 
him  secure  to  the  platform  by  strong  cords. 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


31 


A little  after  sunrise  ‘Julius  Caesar ’ was  dis- 
covered by  some  of  the  Federal  battery 
officers,  who  prepared  for  the  target,  so  in- 
viting to  skillful  practice.  The  new  soldier 
sat  under  the  hot  fire  with  irritating  indiffer- 
ence, until  the  Confederates,  not  able  to  re- 
strain their  hilarity  exposed  the  joke  by  call- 
ing for  ‘Three  cheers  for  Julius  Csesar.’ 
The  other  side  quickly  recognized  the  situa- 
tion and  good-naturedly  added  to  ours  their 
cheers  for  the  old  hero.” 

Another  Crow’s  Nest. 

These  two  incidents  relate  to  the  Crow’s 
Nest  in  the  tall  pine  tree,  near  the  summit 
of  the  slope  from  the  western  woods  down  to 
the  Nansemond  River.  There  is  another 
Crow’s  Nest,  which  Uncle  Sam’s  boys  had 
put  up  among  the  branches  of  the  “wide- 
spreading”  oak  tree  just  in  the  rear  of  South 
Quay  Battery,  facing  the  tall  pine  crow’s 
nest. 

After  the  advent  of  Longstreet’s  corps  at 
Suffolk,  the  Confederate  soldiers  just  honey- 
combed with  rifle  pits  that  long  slope  running 
from  the  tall  pine  down  to  the  Nansemond 


32 


Camp  Life. 


River.  There  all  day  they  grasped  their  tele- 
scopic rifles,  ready  to  “pop”  at  any  Yankee 
head  they  might  see. 

One  day  Lient.  Thurber  and  myself 
walked  over  from  our  camp  on  the  Suffolk 
North  Front  to  South  Quay  Battery  on  the 
West  Front,  ran  up  the  ladder  to  the  crow’s 
nest  in  the  broad  oak,  to  view  those  rifle  pits. 
We  had  not  been  there  long  before  we  saw 
a puff  of  smoke  from  a rifle  pit  away  on  our 
right.  We  both  dodged  behind  the  plank  till 
we  heard  the  ball  “pirn”  by.  Soon  after  we 
saw  another  puff  of  smoke  from  a pit  directly 
in  our  front.  We  dodged  down  behind  the 
planks  and  the  ball  went  by  — “ pirn.  ’ ’ 
Shortly  after  that  we  saw  another  and  an- 
other, till  it  seemed  that  we  two  Yankees 
were  the  target  of  all  the  rifles  on  that  broad 
side-hill. 

I suggested  to  the  lieutenant  that  we  had 
better  seek  quarters  below,  where  we  could 
not  be  seen  by  those  rebel  sharpshooters.  In 
passing  down  the  ladder  the  board  set  up 
edgewise  on  the  front  side  of  the  ladder  hid 
our  bodies.  Half  way  down  a large  branch 
of  the  oak  obliged  that  board  shield  to  be  cut 


Photo  by  Brady 


Captain  Mowry. 

i 863. 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


33 


off,  and  another  started  just  below  the  limb. 
There  was  a short  space  where  the  sharp 
shooters  conld  see  ns  descending'.  When  my 
head  was  just  below  that  spot  and  the  lieu- 
tenant’s feet  just  above  a rebel  ball  came 
through  that  open  space  with  its  well-known 
“pirn-”  Had  that  rebel  fired  that  ball  a few 
seconds  earlier,  doubtless  I should  not  be 
writing  these  desultory  anecdotes  today. 

Longstreet  Leaves  Us. 

It  was  about  the  first  week  in  May  that 
the  battle  of  Chancellorsville  took  place,  and 
Lee,  anticipating  another  attack  from  Hooker, 
telegraphed  to  Longstreet  to  bring  up  his 
forces  as  soon  as  possible.  I think  it  was  on 
Sunday,  May  3,  the  rebels  were  in  there 
places  as  usual  and  on  the  next  day,  Monday, 
they  were  gone. 

Long  Marches. 

The  11th  R.  I.  Regiment  did  good  sendee 
to  our  government  for  the  next  six  weeks  in 
several  marches  of  our  troops  into  the 
enemy’s  territory,  once  as  far  as  to  Franklin 
on  the  Blackwater,  and  over  towards  Peters- 


34 


Camp  Life. 


burg  as  far  as  Zuni  Station  in  Isle  of  Wight 
County.  We  took  up  the  rails  from  some 
twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  of  track  on  the 
Welden  Railroad  and  the  Petersburg  road, 
good  English  T-rails  of  great  value,  the  best 
I had  seen  at  that  dav,  and  sent  them  to  Nor- 
folk  for  the  benefit  of  the  government. 

At  one  time,  near  Zuni,  Company  K had 
as  much  of  a skirmish  as  the  11th  saw  in  the 
entire  campaign.  It  was  on  this  wise : — 
Company  K Goes  on  Picket  at  Night. 

On  the  evening  of  the  22nd  of  May,  about 
nine  o’clock,  the  men  of  Company  K had 
turned  in,  having  wrapped  themselves  in 
their  blankets,  on  the  ground,  when  the  ser- 
geant major  brought  me  the  order  to  form 
company  and  march  out  for  picket  duty. 

By  ten  o’clock  that  night  we  marched 
nearly  a mile  to  the  front,  and  relieved  the 
men  of  Company  F,  Captain  Taft,  who  had 
been  on  picket  that  day.  The  picket  posts 
were  in  two  divisions.  Our  first  platoon  was 
posted  along  the  main  road  leading  from 
Windsor  to  Zuni  and  on  towards  Peters- 
burg. The  second  platoon,  under  Lieut. 
Thurber,  was  posted  along  a cross  road  on 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


35 


the  left  of  our  innermost  post.  My  outermost 
post  was  behind  a large  tree  at  the  further 
extremity  of  the  heavy  woods.  Just  beyond 
that  post,  in  a clump  of  bushes  and  young- 
trees  was  the  advanced  picket  post  of  the 
rebel  troops  — not  more  than  about  fifty 
yards  distant. 

Imagine  our  position,  placed  on  picket  in 
the  enemy’s  country  in  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  in  a line  where  we  were  total  strangers 
— a place  we  had  never  seen  before,  and  in 
close  proximity  to  the  enemy’s  pickets.  By 
the  time  all  of  the  posts  had  been  found  and 
all  the  men  put  on  duty,  it  was  midnight. 
From  that  hour  till  three  o’clock  I spent  the 
time  in  going  “grand  rounds.”  I visited 
every  post  of  both  platoons,  and  gave  special 
orders  to  the  men  of  the  front  post  — so  near 
the  rebel  pickets.  There  I left  sergeant  Yiall 
and  Corporal  Lauder  with  four  trusty  men. 
Then  at  three  o ’clock  I went  back  to  the  inner- 
most post,  where  Capt.  Parkliurst  with  Com- 
pany C was  stationed  as  my  support  and  lay 
down  under  Captain  Parkhurst’s  blanket.  I 
took  a short  sleep  and  at  the  first  dawn  of 
the  morning  light  I was  up  and  went  out  to 


36 


Camp  Life. 


Sergeant  Viall’s  post.  I inquired  of  him 
about  the  rebel  picket  post.  He  replied  that 
they  had  been  there  all  night,  but  he  had 
heard  nothing  of  them  for  about  an  hour. 
“Have  you  been  across  the  road,  sergeant ?” 
“No,  indeed,  we  have  kept  behind  these 
trees.” 

“Well,  let  us  draw  their  lire.”  I walked 
across  the  road.  No  response.  The  sergeant 
and  one  or  two  men  went  across.  No  result. 
Then  we  crossed  and  recrossed.  About  this 
time,  when  it  was  fully  day  light,  a solitary 
cavalry  man  came  riding  up  from  the  rear 
and  questioned  us.  I gave  him  all  the  in- 
formation I could,  and  his  reply  was : — 
“We  ’ll  soon  see  where  they  are,”  and 
taking  his  breech-loading  carbine  in  his  hand, 
and  putting  spurs  to  his  horse,  went  cantering 
up  the  road  for  a quarter  of  a mile  or  so.  On 
his  return  he  said  to  me:  “No  rebels  any- 
where near  you.”  There  was  a heavy  dew 
upon  the  ground,  and  as  we  went  out  to  the 
spot  which  the  enemy’s  picket  had  occupied 
during  the  night  we  could  see  by  their  tracks 
in  the  dew  which  way  they  had  gone.  This 
was  off  through  the  woods  to  my  left.  Ser- 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


37 


geant  Viall  and  the  cavalryman  followed 
their  route  through  the  woods  to  the  cross 
road  beyond  my  picket  line. 

A Quiet  Forenoon. 

We  passed  a very  quiet  forenoon.  No 
enemy  appeared.  I pushed  my  pickets  out 
beyond  the  woods,  into  the  open  ground,  es- 
tablishing one  post  directly  in  front  of  the 
old  front  post,  behind  the  corner  of  a Vir- 
ginia fence,  and  another  oft  to  the  right 
flank,  near  where  a house  and  barn  had  been 
burned,  and  not  far  from  the  front  of  a large 
apple  orchard,  with  tall  grass. 

That  forenoon  will  be  remembered  by  all 
the  boys  in  my  platoon  as  long  as  they  re- 
member any  incident  of  the  war.  They 
flourished  around  everywhere. 

A regimental  order  but  recently  promul- 
gated forbade  any  killing  of  “hog  or  hogs, 
pig  or  pigs.”  But,  on  that  forenoon  a soli- 
tary pig  appeared  wandering  around  on  the 
open  grounds.  The  temptation  for  “fresh 
pork”  was  too  great. 

The  boys  chased  the  pig  until  finally  it 
was  bayoneted  and  soon  was  well  dressed 


38 


Camp  Life. 


and  hung’  up  on  a tree.  Scarcely  had  that  job 
been  finished  when  Colonel  Church  rode  out 
to  inspect  the  picket  line.  He  saw  the  fresh 
pork  hanging  from  the  tree.  He  at  once  ad- 
dressed Sergeant  Viall:  “Sergeant,  did  you 
kill  that  pig?” 

“No,  sir,  he  ran  on  my  bayonet.  Have  a 
piece,  Colonel?” 

The  colonel  did  not  look  displeased,  but 
put  on  a broad  grin  and  rode  off. 

The  Skirmish. 

After  the  midday  lunch  I went  the  rounds 
and  said,  to  each  group:  “Boys,  we  may  not 
see  the  rebels  here,  but  if  we  do,  it  will  be 
within  the  nest  three  hours.  You  had  all 
best  to  keep  very  quiet  at  your  posts.  No 
running  around.  Let  all  be  quiet  and  all  the 
men  keep  out  of  sight  at  your  posts.” 

Never  did  soldiers  obey  orders  better. 
Between  two  and  three  o’clock  I rested  back 
by  the  grounds  where  Captain  Parkhurst 
with  Company  C was  acting  as  my  reserve. 
At  three  o’clock  I heard  a shot  from  our  front 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


39 


post,  back  of  a corner  of  tbe  Virginia  fence. 
Immediately  I ran  out  to  that  post  to  see 
what  it  meant.  Soon  the  firing  became  brisk, 
as  we  saw  the  rebels,  company  after  com- 
pany, crossing  the  road  about  six  hundred 
yards  from  the  front  picket  post. 

Not  long  after  I heard  a musket  from 
the  post  at  our  right,  near  the  apple 
orchard. 

Instantly,  I ran  back  to  the  next  post 
and  ordered  Billy  Hicks  to  go  down  to 
that  right  post  and  see  what  the  firing 
meant.  I greatly  feared  we  were  flanked. 
Billy  was  to  return  as  soon  as  possible  and 
inform  me. 

However,  before  he  could  have  reached 
the  post  an  unearthly  rebel  yell  was  heard, 
when  suddenly  we  saw  a squadron  of  cavalry 
with  two  howitzers  come  prancing  down  the 
hill,  and  three  companies  of  infantry  sprang 
up  from  the  tall  grass  in  the  orchard  on  our 
right,  with  three  companies  from  the  bushes 
that  hid  a lane  on  our  left,  both  on  the  double 
quick.  The  men  on  picket  obeyed  orders  and 
ran  to  the  barricade  in  the  woods,  as  I had 
directed  them,  in  case  of  an  attack  to  rally 


40 


Camp  Life. 


on  the  barricade.  The  rebels  came  on  as  far 
as  the  edge  of  the  woods,  just  in  sight  of 
the  barricade.  There  they  halted  and  kept 
up  a continuous  firing.  During  the  previous 
night  we  had  succeeded  in  cutting  down 
three  large  pine  trees,  two  on  one  side  of 
the  road  and  one  from  the  other.  These 
had  been  fallen  directly  across  the  road 
to  prevent  any  cavalry  or  artillery  getting 
past. 

Just  at  this  time  — when  the  entire  com- 
pany had  assembled  at  the  barricade  and 
were  keeping  up  a continuous  fire  upon  the 
rebels,  who  had  come  within  firing  distance 
for  infantry,  — all  at  once  I heard  a volley 
and  a command.  I felt  sure  that  command 
was  from  our  colonel.  I knew  his  voice,  or 
thought  I did.  At  once  I interpreted  the 
movement  in  this  way: 

Colonel  Church  had  double-quicked  our 
regiment  from  the  rear,  had  gone  past  us,  on 
our  right,  through  a cartpath,  next  to  the 
location  of  the  26th  Michigan,  had  emerged 
from  the  woods  and  was  chasing  the  rebels. 
Lieut.  Thurber  was  forming  company.  I 
wanted  Company  K to  have  a hand  in  the 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


41 


movement,  hence  I dodged  around  the  bar- 
ricades, through  the  thick  woods,  and  com- 
ing out  into  the  road,  stopped  and  looked  to 
see  where  the  colonel  and  our  regiment  were 
located.  As  I quickly  glanced  up  the  road  be- 
fore me  I saw  soldiers,  drawn  up  in  column 
by  platoons.  But  I instantly  perceived  that 
they  were  not  “blue-coats”;  they  were 
‘ ‘ gray-backs  ’ ’ ! 

Quick  as  a flash  they  raised  their  guns. 
Quicker  than  a flash  I dropped,  flat  in  the 
gutter.  More  than  a hundred  muskets,  in  a 
volley,  were  fired  at  me.  They  were  standing- 
on  ground  a few  feet  higher  than  where  I 
was  and  only  about  fifty  or  sixty  yards  from 
me.  Every  bullet  passed  over  my  head,  and 
before  they  could  load  again  I was  out  of 
sight  in  the  woods,  and  quickly  made  my  way 
back  to  my  company  behind  the  barricade. 
There  I found  that  the  firing  was  so  brisk 
that  Captain  Parkhurst  had  ordered  his  men 
to  lie  down  flat  behind  the  stone  wall.  I had 
been  fired  at  by  six  companies  of  skirmishers 
from  Alabama  and  Mississippi  regiments  and 
had  escaped  unhurt. 


42 


Camp  Life. 


Soon  the  rebels  were  driven  back  and  we 
heard  no  more  of  them. 

March  to  Windsor  Station. 

Earlier  in  the  day  we  had  been  ordered  to 
move  to  Windsor  station,  a distance  of  about 
three  miles,  but  the  day  was  so  excessively 
hot  that  the  order  was  not  obeyed  till  after 
sunset.  On  that  march  our  regiment  formed 
the  rear  of  the  line  and  Company  K was  the 
rear-guard  with  one  gattling  gun  between  us 
and  the  rebels.  That  march  of  three  miles 
was  through  a dense  wood,  which  had  been 
set  on  fire  the  day  before  and  was  still  burn- 
ing. 

Not  a single  man  of  our  regiment  was 
either  killed  or  wounded  by  the  rebels,  but 
we  took  several  rebel  prisoners,  who  reported 
that  we  had  shot  six  of  their  men. 

An  account  of  this  march  and  of  the  skir- 
mish was  written  by  some  member  of  the 
26th  Michigan  for  their  4 ‘Camp  Journal.” 
In  the  main  it  is  truthful  and  accurate.  Of 
course,  the  writer  was  not  fully  posted  as 
to  our  11th  Regiment,  but  told  the  story 
as  he  understood  it.  We  take  pleasure  in 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


43 


quoting  it  entire.  The  whole  article  is  as 
follows : — 

OUR  CAMP  JOURNAL 


. .No  Peace  While  Traitors  are  in  Arms!.  . 


Headquarters  26th  Michigan  Infantry,  Camp 
Suffolk,  Va.,  June  5th,  1863.' 


Our  Expedition  Toward  the  Blackwater. 


On  Saturday,  the  18th  of  May,  with  the 
exception  of  the  130th  N.  Y.,  was  ordered 
to  the  “Deserted  House”  in  the  direction  of 
the  Blackwater,  to  assist  in  protecting  the 
workmen  who  were  engaged  in  taking  up  the 
rails  of  the  Portsmouth,  Seaboard  and  Roa- 
noke Railroad.  Two  brigades,  under  the 
command  of  Colonels  Wardrop  of  the  99th 
and  Murphy  of  the  69th  N.  Y.  had  preceded 
us.  On  their  arrival  at  the  Deserted  House, 
Colonel  Farrar  of  the  26th  Michigan  was 
placed  in  command  of  our  Brigade,  consisting 
of  11th  R.  I.,  152d  N.  Y.,  167th  Pennsylvania, 
and  26th  Michigan.  Nothing  of  moment 


44 


Camp  Life. 


occurred  at  this  point,  save  the  maturing  of 
plans  and  concentration  of  all  forces  under 
General  Corcoran  for  an  expedition  out  on 
the  Norfolk,  Petersburg,  and  Richmond  Rail- 
road. We  were,  however,  interested  in  the 
historic  and  legendary  associations  of  the 

Deserted  House. 

It  was  the  scene  of  the  famous  Nat  Tur- 
ner’s negro  insurrection  in  1830,  and  the  con- 
sequent hanging  of  more  than  fifty  negroes. 
Soon  after  these  occurrences  the  house  was 
deserted,  under  the  impression  that  it  was 
haunted.  Since  then  it  has  been  the  subject 
of  wild  and  vague  superstitions  among  the 
inhabitants  of  this  entire  region.  Mrs.  Stowe 
immortalizes  it  in  her  story  of  “Dred,”  and 
Mrs.  Southworth  has  made  it  the  basis  of 
an  interesting  work  of  fiction.  Several 
battles  have  been  fought  here  during  the 
present  war,  as  the  scarred  and  broken 
orchards  and  forest,  the  fragments  of  shell, 
the  skeletons  of  artillery-horses  attest.  The 
house  was  smouldering  in  ruins  on  our  ar- 
rival, having  been  burned  the  previous  day 
by  some  rude  vandal,  and  nothing  remains 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


45 


but  the  lone  chimneys  and  desolate  fields  to 
mark  the  scene  of  two  dark  tragedies.  The 
raising  of  the  Seaboard  track  being  accom- 
plished, the  advanced  forces  fell  back  to  onr 
position;  and  on  Wednesday,  the  19th,  the 
entire  force  of  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artil- 
lery under  command  of  General  Corcoran, 
— the  infantry,  under  command  of  Acting 
Brigadier  General  Wardrop  — moved  to 

. Windsor, 

on  the  line  of  the  Norfolk  and  Richmond 
Railroad.  On  Friday  the  3d  Brigade,  under 
command  of  Colonel  Farrar,  was  advanced 
four  miles  beyond  Windsor,  to  protect  the 
workment  on  the  extreme  front.  The  posi- 
tion occupied  was  on  a large  plantation  near 

Antioch  Church. 

to  the  left  of  the  railroad.  The  153d  N.  Y. 
was  posted  on  the  right  to  prevent  a flank 
movement  of  the  enemy,  the  11th  R.  I.  on  the 
left,  and  the  26th  Michigan,  with  a section 
of  the  4th  regular  artillery,  under  Lieut. 
Thompson,  in  the  center;  besides  these,  a 
squadron  of  the  11th  Pennsylvania  cavalry 


46 


Camp  Life. 


acted  as  pickets  and  scouts  upon  the  out- 
posts, the  whole  under  direction  of  Brigadier 
General  Dodge.  About  noon  the  cavalry 
scouts  reported  the  approach  of  the  enemy’s 
cavalry  on  the  road  in  front  of  our  center. 
A strong  picket  force  from  the  11th  Rhode 
Island  was  thrown  out  on  the  left  a little 
into  the  woods,  and  on  the  right  Lieuts.  Dop- 
son  and  Gibbs  with  Company  C from  the  28th 
Michigan.  All  through  the  afternoon  picket 
firing  was  kept  up  all  along  the  line.  Gard- 
ner Matthews,  of  Company  C,  shot  a Missis- 
sippian  through  the  head,  killing  him  in- 
stantly. He  was  brought  into  Colonel  Far- 
rar’s quarters  the  next  morning  and  de- 
cently buried.  The  rebel  deserters  who  came 
in  on  Saturday  morning  report  a loss  of 
seven  killed  and  wounded  on  the  line  of  our 
pickets.  During  the  forenoon  of  Saturday 
everything  was  quiet,  but  at  four  o’clock 
P.M.  the  rebels  commenced  firing  on  our 
pickets,  and  in  a few  moments  the  entire  line 
was  engaged  in  a brisk  skirmish  with  the 
enemy.  At  six  o’clock  a large  force  of  the 
enemy’s  cavalry  dismounted,  and  with  rapid 
firing  and  loud  yells  charged  upon  Captains 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


47 


Parkliurst  and  Mo  wry’s  right,  and  Lieut. 
Parker’s  left.  The  firing  of  the  enemy  be- 
coming too  hot  for  our  little  force  of  skir- 
mishers, Captain  Thrasher  of  the  11th  was 
sent  with  his  command  to  the  support  of 
Parkliurst  and  Mowry,  and  Captain  Culver 
of  the  26th,  with  a part  of  Company  E,  to 
the  support  of  Parker.  As  soon  as  Captain 
Culver  had  reached  the  scene  of  action,  he 
placed  his  men  in  Lieut.  Parker’s  command, 
who  immediately  ordered  an  advance  into  the 
woods,  when  Captain  Culver  fell  mortally 
wounded.  Lieut.  Parker  bound  up  the  wound, 
gave  him  some  spirits,  and  sent  him  to  the 
rear.  About  this  time  Lieut.  Thompson 
opened  upon  the  enemy  with  shell  from  his 
ten-pounders,  and  forced  him  to  leave  the 
ground.  It  is  most  remarkable,  that  no  one, 
save  Captain  Culver,  was  injured  on  our  side 
through  all  this  fighting,  which  lasted  for 
more  than  two  hours.  It  is  owing,  doubtless, 
to  the  excellent  management  of  our  forces  by 
Captains  Parkliurst  and  Mowry,  and  Lieut. 
Parker,  who  kept  their  men  under  cover  of 
the  large  pines,  and  ordered  them  to  fire  only 
when  they  could  distinctly  see  the  enemy. 


48 


Camp  Life. 


The  rebels  undertook  to  play  their  old  game 
of  throwing  a half  a dozen  times  our  number 
on  our  weakest  and  most  exposed  points,  but 
the  steady  and  accurate  fire  of  our  men  held 
them  in  check  until  our  battery  opened,  when 
they  were  forced  to  give  way.  Several  officers 
from  the  lltli  and  our  own  regiments  showed 
great  coolness  and  bravery  in  facing  a per- 
fect storm  of  rebel  bullets,  when  occasion  re- 
quired them,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fight.  It 
is  not  doubted  by  those  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  facts,  that  at  least  twenty  to  thirty 
of  the  enemy  were  killed  and  wounded. 

Captain  Parkhurst’s  men  brought  in  two 
prisoners.  The  boys  of  Companies  A and  E, 
as  also  the  11th  R.  I.,  fought  splendidly,  and 
speak  in  the  highest  terms  of  Captains  Park- 
hurst  and  Mowry,  and  Lieuts.  Parker  and 
Underhill.  We  were  eighty  rods  to  the  right 
and  rear  of  Company  A,  on  picket  with  Cap- 
tain Dailey  and  Company  G,  and  could  dis- 
tinctly hear  Parkhurst  and  Parker  giving 
commands.  It  was  noticeable  throughout  the 
whole  affair  that  our  men  reposed  the  utmost 
confidence  in  Colonels  Farrar  and  Church. 
Under  such  commanders,  men  are  invincible. 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


49 


Captain  Burch,  acting  colonel;  Captain 
Lothian,  acting  major!  Lieut.  Church,  A.  A. 
Aclt.  Gen. ; Lieut.  Alexander,  A.  D.  C. ; Lieut. 
Hadley,  Acting  Adjt.,  and  Sergt.  Howard,  of 
the  26th,  also  the  field  and  staff  of  the  11th, 
were  prompt  in  executing  general  and  regi- 
mental orders,  and  cannot  he  too  highly  com- 
mended. 

General  Dodge  had  made  such  disposition 
of  other  forces  during  the  day  that  we  felt 
secure  in  our  position. 

Colonel  Farrar  directed  personally  all  our 
movements.  Not  a thing  occurred  to  mar 
our  success  in  this  affair,  and  but  for  the 
wounding  of  Captain  Culver,  not  a heart  sad- 
dened among  all  our  forces.  When  we  re- 
member that  it  was  only  on  Saturday  that  we 
saw  him  in  health  and  vigor,  moving  over  the 
plain  to  the  support  of  our  little  force  of 
skirmishers,  we  can  hardly  realize  that  he 
has  left  us.  He  died  on  Sunday,  the  24th, 
from  the  effects  of  his  wound.  We  had  re- 
ceived orders  early  in  the  day  to  withdraw 
our  forces  and  at  dark  march  back  to  Wind- 
sor, having  accomplished  the  work  for  which 
we  were  sent. 


50 


Camp  Life. 


On  Sunday,  at  2 o’clock,  we  were  ordered 
to  Philips’  Mills,  five  miles  down  the  rail- 
road in  the  direction  of  Suffolk,  where  we 
encamped  until  Tuesday,  at  2 p.m.,  when  we 
were  ordered  again  to  march.  At  midnight 
we  had  recrossed  the  Nansemond,  and  (thank 
God  and  General  Peck!)  found  ourselves  once 
more  in  our  old  camp.  Everything  has  been 
done  to  the  satisfaction  of  those  in  command. 
Nearly  forty  miles  of  the  finest  railroad  track 
in  Virginia  has  been  raised  and  placed  be- 
yond rebel  reach.  A good  deal  of  skirmish- 
ing has  occurred  in  which  the  enemy  has  been 
worsted.  We  have  traveled  over  forty  miles 
of  sandy  road,  choking  with  dust  and  half 
overcome  with  heat,  spoiled  several  gallons 
of  good  ‘applejack,’  lived  well,  got  well 
jaded,  and  are  in  Suffolk  again,  with  the  ad- 
vantage of  many  new  experiences.” 

Mills  Barrett’s  Plantation. 

On  the  next  day,  Sunday,  May  24,  about 
the  middle  of  the  day,  we  marched  from 
Windsor  Station  about  three  miles,  to  Mills 
Barrett’s  farm.  On  our  arrival  there,  we 
found  that  Mr.  Barrett  had  twenty-three 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment.  51 

slaves.  When  we  left  on  Tuesday  following 
there  were  remaining  only  Uncle  Ben  and 
Aunt  Lucy,  an  aged  couple.  All  the  others 
had  left  the  plantation  and  gone  into  Suffolk 
to  secure  their  freedom. 

After  they  had  all  gone,  I asked  Uncle 
Ben  why  he  did  not  go. 

“Well,  Massa,  I tell  you.  Dere  be  two 
reasons.  Dere’s  young  Massa  Barrett,  in 
Norfolk,  he’s  de  Union  man.  I promised  him 
I’d  stay  wid  old  massa  as  long  as  I lib.  An’ 
I’m  goin’  to  keep  my  promise.  Den,  dere’s 
de  todder  reason.  You  see,  Massa  Captain, 
I’se  growin’  ole.  So’s  Lucy.  We  both  has 
de  rheumatiz-  Here  we’ll  be  took  care  of  as 
long  as  we  lib.  Down  dere,  don’t  know  what 
’ud  happen.  Freedom  is  good  for  de  young 
folks,  but,  guess  I’d  better  stay  here.” 

Mary  and  Her  Children. 

Among  the  families  of  slaves  was  one 
woman  (Mary)  and  her  children.  Her  hus- 
band had  already  gone  to  Suffolk  and  Mary 
was  anxious  to  join  him,  with  her  pickanin- 
nies. It  happened  that  on  Monday  morning 
one  of  our  government  teams  was  going  to 


52 


Camp  Life. 


Suffolk  empty.  The  adjutant  (Robert  Fes- 
senden) and  the  captain  of  Company  K laid 
their  plans  for  the  transportation  of  Mary 
and  her  family  to  Suffolk. 

When  the  team  was  ready  to  start,  the 
driver  reined  up  to  her  cabin  and  six  men  of 
Company  K were  ordered  by  the  sergeant  of 
the  guard  to  fall  in  and  take  arms.  They  did 
so  and  formed  a line  around  the  covered 
wagon.  Six  more  men  sprang  into  the  cabin 
and  loaded  up  Mary’s  household  stuff,  put  the 
children  — all  but  the  baby  — into  the  wagon, 
with  the  chairs  and  bed,  and  things,  and  while 
Mary  mounted  to  the  driver’s  high  seat,  the 
adjutant  held  the  baby  — a handsome  little 
pickaninny  — and  then  threw  it  up  to  the 
mother.  Before  he  did  so,  however,  he  kissed 
the  baby. 

Instantly  the  team  started  for  Suffolk. 

“Theke’s  Many  a Slip.” 

Now,  our  regular  brigadier  general,  in 
command  of  the  brigade  was  absent,  and  the 
command  had  fallen  upon  Colonel  Blank  of 
the  — th  Connecticut.  We,  boys  of  the  11th 
R-  I.,  from  various  developments  witnessed 


Pencil  sketch  by  Robert  Little 

Headquarters  Co.  K.  Camp  Perry,  Suffolk,  Va.  1863. 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


53 


by  ns,  had  the  impression  that  the  Connecti- 
cut regiment  was  largely  composed  of  Cop- 
perheads. We  also  had  reason  to  believe 
that  disease  or  crime  — whichever  you  may 
call  it,  — extended  to  their  colonel. 

At  all  events,  soon  after  that  team  had 
started  for  Suffolk,  Colonel  (Blank),  on 
learning  the  facts,  ordered  its  immediate  re- 
turn. 

Now,  it  is  Fessenden’s  turn.  He  was  fly- 
ing around  till  he  got  an  order  to  go  some- 
ivfoere.  It  mattered  little  where,  provided  he 
could  get  out  of  camp.  Having  obtained  an 
order  to  go,  he  mounted  his  horse  and  spurred 
away  on  the  road  to  Suffolk,  upon  a lively 
canter.  He  met  the  returning  wagon  opposite 
a large  mansion  of  a plantation.  Mary  and 
the  children  were  loudly  boo-hoo-ing,  greatly 
regretting  to  be  carried  back  to  Massa  Bar- 
rett’s plantation.  The  adjutant  stopped  the 
team,  rode  up  to  the  front  door  of  the  house, 
and  rapped  loudly.  The  planter  himself  came 
to  the  door.  He  was  an  elderly  man,  with  a 
head  of  long,  browzy  hair. 

“Do  yon  own  this  plantation?  ” 

“Ye ’as,  suppose  I do.” 


54 


Camp  Life. 


“Those  slave  quarters  down  yonder 
yours?  That  empty  cabin ?” 

“Ye-as,  that ’s  mine,  tu.” 

“Well,  sir,  I have  a family  to  put  into 
that  cabin,  and  I shall  hold  you  responsible 
for  their  safety.  Do  you  understand  that?” 

“Ye-as  — reckon  I du-” 

“Well,  sir,  if  anything  happens  to  that 
family,  if  they  are  disturbed  in  any  way, — 
X 11  burn  your  house  down.  Do  you  under- 
stand that?” 

“Reckon  I du.  Nothin’  shall  disturb 
’iim.  ’ ’ 

“Well,  you  be  sure  that  they  are  kept 
safe  from  any  danger.” 

‘ ‘ I will,  sah.  ’ ’ 

Rapidly  the  adjutant  and  driver  unloaded 
the  family  and  the  furniture,  put  them  in  the 
cabin  and  returned  to  camp.  Our  boys  set 
up  a mighty  hurrah  when  they  saw  that 
wagon  come  into  camp  empty. 

A few  days  later  Mary  and  her  children 
were  brought  into  Suffolk. 

Mary  Reaches  Suffolk. 

How  did  they  get  into  Suffolk?  Well, 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


55 


that’s  an  interesting  story,  too.  On  our  re- 
turn to  camp  we  began  to  talk  about  getting 
Mary  and  her  children  into  Suffolk.  We 
could  not  send  soldiers  out  on  such  an  expedi- 
tion. That  was  not  military.  At  length  my 
“John”  (John  Taylor,  my  colored  cook) 
and  “Jim”  (Captain  Parkhurst’s  servant) 
offered  to  go  and  get  them  if  a team  could  be 
provided.  So,  the  adjutant,  the  chaplain  and 
Company  K ’s  captain  hired  a mule  team  and 
sent  those  two  colored  boys  out  five  miles 
into  the  rebel  country,  at  the  risk  of  their 
lives,  to  bring  to  freedom  that  colored  woman 
and  her  children. 

When  these  two  boys  had  agreed  to  un- 
dertake the  enterprise,  I told  John  that  he 
might  take  my  navy  revolver  with  him-  In- 
stantly John  shouted  out:  — 

“ Hi ! Tink  o ’ dat ! I ’ll  hab  de  captain ’s 
’volver!  Ha!  ha,  ha!  ” 

An  hour  later  John  came  to  me  with  a 
very  sober  face,  and  said:  “Cap’n,  guess  I 
better  not  take  de  ’volver.  Ye  see,  if  de 
rebs  should  find  us  an’  I had  de  ’volver  da  ’d 
kill  me  sure.  But  if  I’m  not  armed  da  may 
let  me  go.  So  I’d  better  not  take  de  ’volver.” 


56 


Camp  Life. 


I told  John  I thought  he  was  wise.  They 
were  successful  in  bringing  Mary  and  her 
family  in.  They  saw  no  rebel  soldiers. 

A Half-Witted  Poor  White. 

On  Sunday,  May  17,  my  company  was  on 
picket  duty,  some  distance  in  front  of 
Deserted  House.  One  of  my  sergeants  came 
to  my  “headquarters  in  the  field”  and  told 
of  capturing  a white  man  and  a colored  boy. 
He  said  the  man  was  either  half-witted  or  he 
feigned  to  be.  I went  out  to  see  him,  and 
soon  decided  that  he  was  one  of  those  half- 
witted, poor  whites.  He  was  employed  by  a 
planter  to  look  after  his  hogs,  running  loose 
in  the  woods.  The  colored  boy  was  helping 
him. 

I released  the  poor  white  man  and  then 
had  a talk  with  the  colored  boy. 

The  Colored  Boy,  George  Vaughan. 

I found  that  his  name  was  George  Vau- 
ghan. He  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  His 
father  was  named  George  Vaughan  and  he 
was  the  oldest  of  seven  children.  The  master 
had  hired  him  out  to  this  farmer,  who  lived 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


57 


some  three  or  four  miles  away.  I told  George 
that  he  could  stay  with  us,  go  into  Suffolk  and 
have  his  freedom. 

I was  surprised  to  hear  him  promptly  re- 
fuse the  offer.  After  a time  I succeeded  in 
getting  the  reason.  His  father  did  not  want 
to  have  the  family  separated.  Whenever 
there  was  a chance  for  them  all  to  get  to 
Suffolk  he  would  send  for  George.  The  fol- 
lowing Sunday,  May  24,  we  swung  around 
to  Mills  Barrett’s  farm  and  on  Monday 
morning  before  I was  up  George  appeared 
inquiring  for  me.  Just  as  soon  as  his  father 
found  that  our  forces  were  beyond  his  mas- 
ter’s plantation,  so  that  he  was  brought  be- 
tween us  and  Suffolk,  he  had  sent  post  haste 
for  George  and  George  had  hastened  home. 

As  soon  as  I was  up  he  found  me,  and 
how  his  eyes  snapped.  He  could  hardly  wait 
to  get  the  words  out  of  his  mouth.  ‘ ‘Ready  to 
go  in  now,  Massa!  Ready  to  go  in!” 

“Go  in?  What  do  you  mean?  Go  in 
where  ? ’ ’ 

“Ready  to  go  in  to  Suffolk.  Goin’  to 
freedom!  Where’s  de  team?” 

‘ ‘ Team  ? What  team  ? ’ ’ 


58 


Camp  Life. 


Then  I found  that  George  had  the  idea 
that  we  would  furnish  transportation  for  the 
family,  goods  and  all,  to  Suffolk.  I quickly 
told  him  that  we  could  not  do  that-  We  could 
only  use  teams  for  military  purposes.  I in- 
quired : — 

“Has  your  master  a horse  and  cart?  ” 
“No,  Massa,  no.” 

“Well,  has  he  a mule?  ’ ’ 

“No,  no  horse,  no  mule.” 

“Has  he  a yoke  of  oxen?” 

“No,  Massa.  No  yoke.  Got  a steer!” 
“Oh,  you  have  a steer?  ” 

“Yes,  Massa,  got  steer.” 

“And  a cart  and  a crooked  yoke?  ” 

“Yes,  got  steer  and  cart  and  crooked 
yoke.” 

“Well,  George,  you  go  right  home  and 
drive  that  steer  into  the  woods  and  tie  him 
there.  Then  you  load  up  your  furniture  on 
the  cart  and  at  three  o’clock  this  afternoon 
you  start  for  Suffolk  — the  whole  family, 
goods,  cart,  steer,  crooked  yoke  and  all. 
You  ’ll  get  there  all  right.” 

Quicker  than  a flash  George  turned  and 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


59 


started  on  the  double-qnick  for  his  father’s 
place. 

Geobge  Vaughan,  Senior. 

At  just  three  o’clock  that  afternoon  that 
cavalcade  passed  our  camp.  There  was  the 
“steer  and  cart,”  the  latter  loaded  to  its  ut- 
most limit  with  bed  and  bedding,  chairs,  cloth- 
ing, hoes,  shovels,  rakes,  etc.  Walking  on 
one  side  the  husband  and  father,  carrying  a 
baby,  on  another  the  wife  and  mother  tot- 
ing another,  with  two  boys  trudging  along  be- 
side the  father  and  two  girls  by  their 
mother’s  side,  with  young  George  in  the  rear 
of  the  cart  to  see  that  nothing  fell  off  from 
that  precious  load. 

On  the  Wednesday  following,  our  regi- 
ment was  back  in  our  quarters  in  Suffolk 
and  I heard  from  Mr.  Vaughan  that  he  was 
at  work,  with  his  “steer  and  cart,”  for  the 
government  on  the  fortifications- 

But  he  had  no  home.  He  was  staying  with 
his  wife  and  children,  in  “Union  Town,” — a 
bright  colony  of  contrabands  numbering  over 
two  thousand. 

This  colony,  “Union  Town,”  was  located 


60 


Camp  Life. 


on  a plain,  near  the  village  of  Suffolk.  It 
consisted  of  a large  village,  compactly  built 
of  split  hemlock  boards,  and  all  its  inhabi- 
tants were  ‘ 4 contrabands  ’ ’ who  had  left  their 
masters  and  found  refuge  within  our  lines. 
Each  family  had  built  a house,  and  they 
found  various  kinds  of  work  to  do. 

Captain  Kendrick  and  I visited  “Union 
Town”  one  afternoon.  In  addition  to  the 
dwelling  houses,  we  found,  in  the  middle  of 
the  village,  a large  building  used  on  week- 
days for  a school-room  and  on  Sundays  for 
a church.  Here  we  found  about  eighty  schol- 
ars, learning  to  read  and  spell.  They  had 
two  teachers,  a man  and  a young  woman. 
Both  of  them  were  only  able  to  read,  write 
and  spell,  and  that  with  difficulty.  The  young 
woman  told  me  that  her  master  sent  his 
daughter  away  to  boarding  school,  and  sent 
her  with  the  daughter.  This  daughter  taught 
her  to  read,  so  that,  out  of  school,  the  slave 
could  read  to  her  young  mistress. 

The  man  would  not  tell  me  how  he  learned 
to  read.  He  knew  the  law  of  Virginia  for- 
bade teaching  a slave  to  read.  But  he  mag- 
nified his  office  and  at  the  close  of  school  in 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


61 


tlie  afternoon  lie  liacl  a hymn  sung  and  pro- 
nounced the  benediction. 

After  a few  days  Mr.  Vaughan  went  to 
work  for  himself  to  build  a home  for  his 
precious  family.  At  first  he  cut  down  hem- 
lock trees  and  with  a f row  split  out  the  boards. 
He  obtained  permission  to  erect  a shanty  on 
a spot  of  land  near  the  village,  and  in  ten 
days  he  had  built  his  house  and  was  ready  to 
move  in.  This  house  I visited.  It  was  about 
eighteen  feet  long  and  twelve  wide,  with  a 
door  and  a chimney  — the  latter  made  of 
wood  slats.  Four  posts  at  the  corners,  and 
two  more  in  the  middle  of  the  sides,  with 
slant  roof,  the  whole  covered  with  boards, 
split  out  with  that  heavy  “frow.” 

Here  this  black  man  soon  located  his 
family,  so  lately  slaves  — now  free,  with  no 
“Massa”  and  no  “Missus”  to  order  them 
about.  What  a change  for  a family! 

Young  George  Again. 

But  that  young  George  interested  me 
greatly.  He  was  a bright,  smart,  boy.  He 
came  over  to  our  camp  now  and  then  and  I 
studied  him  carefully.  I talked  with  the 


62 


Camp  Life. 


father  and  urged  him  to  let  me  take  George 
home  with  me.  It  was  now  June  and  our 
term  of  enlistment  expired  on  the  first  of 
July.  He  objected  that  it  would  be  a break 
in  his  family.  He  was  anxious  to  keep  them 
all  together.  I told  him  that  I would  give 
him  my  address,  and  he  could  hear  from 
George  often,  and  get  some  one  to  write  an- 
swers to  the  letters  so  that  George  could  hear 
from  him. 

Finally,  he  consented,  and  we  were  to 
leave  Suffolk  on  the  19th  of  June.  Our  regi- 
ment, with  others,  was  ordered  to  Yorktown, 
on  the  peninsular- 

My  company  marched  to  the  railroad  and 
there  awaited  orders.  Now  I looked  for  Mr. 
Vaughan.  He  nowhere  appeared.  After  a 
while,  however,  they  appeared,  Mr.  Vaughan, 
his  wife  and  George.  But  he  carried  a very 
sober  face.  I innocently  thought  it  was  sor- 
row in  parting  with  the  boy.  But  soon  he 
ventured  to  say : — 

“We  changed  our  mind.  Can’t  give  up 
George.  Hope  you  ’ll  forgive  me,  but  we 
can’t  let  him  go.  Ef  he  go  ’way  up  Norf, 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


63 


afraid  I lose  track  er  liirn.  Reckon  we  must 
keep  him  home.” 

So,  there  was  nothing  for  me  to  do  but  to 
acquiesce  in  the  parental  judgment.  Ah ! But 
what  a life  problem  is  here  pictured ! A sud- 
den transition  of  a family  of  nine  persons 
from  slavery  to  freedom.  A strong  family 
affection,  an  unusual  enterprise  in  finding  — 
no,  making  — a home  for  them,  and  this 
wholesome  desire  to  keep  the  family  united! 

But,  we  must  be  brief.  Many  matters  are 
hastening  fast.  On  the  first  of  July  our  time 
would  be  up,  the  nine  months  for  which  we 
enlisted  would  be  ended. 

Off  to  Yorktown  and  Williamsburg. 

Again,  as  Longstreet’s  whole  force  had 
left  us  and  joined  Lee,  our  services  were  no 
longer  needed  at  Suffolk- 

Still  further,  as  Lee  with  his  large  army 
was  starting  for  Pennsylvania,  the  authori- 
ties at  Washington  determined  to  make  a 
feint  on  Richmond.  Hence  the  11th  R.  I. 
■with  other  regiments  were  to  be  transferred 
to  the  Peninsula.  Thus  it  was  that  our  regi- 
ment left  Suffolk  on  the  19th  of  June,  went 


64 


Camp  Life. 


by  rail  to  Norfolk,  and  embarked  on  tlie 
Maple  Leaf  for  Yorktown. 

On  the  22nd,  in  company  with  many  other 
regiments  we  left  Yorktown  and  marched  — 
in  light  marching  order  — to  Williamsburg. 
We  bivouacked  in  a grass  field  that  night  and 
the  next  day  the  different  companies  were 
distributed  to  Fort  Magruder  and  the  eight 
redoubts,  located  a mile  or  more  east  of  the 
town.  There  we  remained  a week.  While  in 
this  location  we  had  short  rations,  and,  as 
we  left  onr  extra  baggage  and  equipments  at 
Yorktown,  the  commissioned  officers  were  in 
a desperate  plight.  We  did  get  potatoes  and 
once  or  twice  some  fresh  meat.  My  servant, 
John  Taylor,  found  a broken  frv-pan  in 
which  he  managed  to  fry  meat  and  raw  pota- 
toes. These  were  placed  on  a piece  of  board, 
about  twelve  inches  long  and  four  wide, 
brought  to  the  captain’s  headquarters,  and 
placed  on  a table.  We  used  our  pocket  knives 
and  a sharpened  stick  instead  of  the  usual 
knife  and  fork.  Coffee  was  made  in  a pint 
tin  cup,  out  of  which  we,  the  captain  and  two 
lieutenants,  drank. 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


65 


The  Major’s  Pass  to  Williamsburg. 

One  day,  the  major  rode  up  to  our  re- 
doubt and  — we  being  very  hungry  — I asked 
him  to  give  Lieut.  Thurber  and  myself  a pass 
to  go  into  the  village  of  Williamsburg  to  get 
a “ square  meal-”  He  did  so,  although  he 
told  us  that  the  major’s  pass  was  rightfully 
of  no  value.  We  used  it  and  passed  the  guards. 
We  travelled  the  entire  length  of  Duke-of- 
Gloucester  Street,  inspected  William  and 
Mary  College,  but  could  find  no  place  where 
we  could  buy  a meal  of  victuals.  We  found 
no  grocery  store,  and  no  place  where  we 
could  purchase  crackers  and  cheese. 

Finally,  we  were  told  of  a colored  woman, 
a “free  black,”  where  it  was  thought  we 
could  get  something  to  eat.  We  tried  that 
place.  We  found  the  cottage  and  were  re- 
ceived courteously,  but  on  our  inquiring  if 
we  could  get  “a  bite”  were  told  that  she 
had  nothing  in  the  house. 

Conversation  continued  a while,  during 
which  I told  her  that  we  were  friends  of  the 
colored  people,  and  that  we  would  pay  for 
all  we  received,  still  she  replied  she  had  noth- 
ing to  cook  a meal  for  us.  I then  inquired : — 


66 


Camp  Life. 


“Have  n’t  you  a loaf  of  bread?  ” 

“Ob,  yes,  I have  some  bread.” 

“Well,  have  you  a bit  of  bacon?” 

“Oil,  yes,  I have  some  bacon.” 

“Have  you  some  coffee?  ” 

“Yes,  I have  some  coffee.” 

“Well,  some  fried  bacon  and  potatoes 
with  a slice  of  bread  and  a cup  of  coffee  will 
be  all  we  could  expect,  and  all  we  want.  ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ I reckon  I can  furnish  you  so  much.  ’ ’ 

So  we  had,  really,  a good,  square  meal. 

The  Captain’s  Pass. 

Another  day,  we  were  hungry  again  and 
I thought,  “Well,  if  those  guards  honored 
the  major’s  pass,  why  should  they  not  honor 
a captain’s  pass.”  I wrote  a pass  for  the 
captain  and  lieutenant  and  signed  it  with  my 
name,  as  “Captain  commanding  Redoubt 
Number  7-”  It  served. 

The  Women  of  Williamsbukg. 

But  this  is  not  all  in  regard  to  that  ancient 
town  of  Williamsburg. 

Both  on  that  first  passage  through  the 
streets  of  the  town  and  on  subsequent  visits, 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


67 


I found  the  women  extremely  hostile  to  the 
Yankees.  We  passed  several  ladies,  sitting 
on  the  front  porch  of  a house,  and  we  doffed 
our  caps  as  we  passed.  They  instantly  turned 
their  heads  and  looked  the  other  way. 
Farther  on,  we  saw  two  young  ladies  coming 
towards  us,  on  the  same  sidewalk  we  were 
on.  They  would  not  meet  us,  hut  crossed 
over  to  the  opposite  sidewalk. 

On  a visit  to  that  town  many  years  after 
the  war  I found  the  same  feeling  still  exist- 
ing, among  the  first  ladies  of  the  place. 

President  Ewell. 

In  contrast  to  this,  let  me  mention  an- 
other incident.  A little  company  of  us  from 
Boston  visited  Williamsburg  in  March,  1888. 
As  we  were  wandering  around  the  buildings 
of  that  ancient  and  honorable  institution, 
William  and  Mary’s  College,  the  second  old- 
est college  in  the  United  States  and  the  origi- 
nator of  the 

Phi  Beta  Kappa 

fraternity,  we  chanced  to  fall  in  with  the 
president  of  the  institution,  Colonel  Benja- 


68 


Camp  Life. 


min  Stocldert  Ewell,  a noted  scholar  and  edu- 
cator. An  interesting  conversation  ensued, 
in  which  he  inquired  where  we  were  from.  On 
our  telling  him  we  were  from  Boston  he  ex- 
claimed, “From  Boston!  If  I were  to  at- 
tempt to  write  the  history  of  Virginia,  I 
should  go  to  Boston  to  write  it.” 

Upon  our  inquiry  why  he  should  do  that, 
he  replied,  “Boston  knows  the  history  of  Vir- 
ginia better  than  we  do-” 

On  our  expressing  surprise  at  that  state- 
ment, he  said : ‘ ‘ Come  with  me,  ’ ’ and  at  once 
unlocked  his  house,  which  was  then  closed, 
his  family  being  away  on  his  farm,  and 
escorted  us  into  his  parlor.  Giving  us  seats, 
he  brought  to  us  a fine  pen  and  ink  portrait 
of  Washington  sitting  upright  at  the  dining 
table.  He  then  told  us  that  in  1872  he  was 
in  Boston  getting  subscriptions  for  William 
and  Mary,  when  he  showed  this  portrait  to 
Dr.  Samuel  A.  Green,  the  well-known  secre- 
tary of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society. 
Dr.  Green  immediately  responded : ‘ ‘ Ho ! 
that  was  taken  only  a little  while  before  he 
died.  ’ ’ 

“How  do  you  know  that,  Dr.  Green.” 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


69 


‘ ‘ That  is  plain  enough,  Dr.  Ewell.  He  has 
his  false  teeth  in,  which  he  wore  only  a short 
time  before  he  111611.” 

“Well,  well,”  said  Dr.  Ewell  to  us,  “I 
did  not  know  that  Washington  ever  had  false 
teeth,  but  Dr.  Green  did,  and  he  readily  ob- 
served that  their  presence  altered  the  contour 
of  the  profile  of  his  face.” 

Dr.  Ewell’s  visit  to  Boston  in  1872  was  to 
get  subscriptions  to  re-endow  William  and 
Mary  College.  He  had  good  success  until  the 
great  Boston  fire  in  the  autumn  of  that  year 
came  and  wiped  it  all  out.  That  was  a great 
blow  for  this  ancient  college  and  for  its 
worthy  president. 

Our  Faces  Turn  Homeward. 

Now  the  term  for  which  we  had  enlisted 
had  expired,  and  on  the  30th  day  of  June, 
1863,  we  retraced  our  steps  from  Williams- 
burg to  Yorktown  and  on  Thursday,  July  2d, 
embarked  on  board  the  propeller,  the  John 
Rice,  reached  the  North  River,  N.  Y.,  on  Sat- 
urday about  sunset,  July  4,  anchored  there 
over  night,  heard  of  the  fall  of  Vicksburg 
and  of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and  on  Sun- 


70 


Camp  Life. 


day  morning',  about  ten  o ’clock,  steamed 
away  for  the  home  port,  Providence,  arriving 
there  and  debarking  about  one  o’clock  on 
Monday,  July  6th. 

Our  Brilliant  Reception  and  Mustek  Out. 

We  were  received  with  military  honors, 
partook  of  a bountiful  collation  in  Railroad 
Hall,  deposited  our  arms  and  equipments  in 
the  Fall  River  Iron  Works  Building  on  South 
Main  Street,  and  were  dismissed  to  go  to  our 
homes. 

We  were  mustered  out  on  Monday  follow- 
ing, July  13th,  receiving  our  discharge  papers 
at  the  hands  of  Captain  W.  Silvey,  of  the 
First  Artillery,  mustering  officer. 

Our  Regiment. 

The  regiment  returned  home  with  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  men  and  thirty- 
eight  officers,  leaving  fifty-five  enlisted  men 
in  hospital,  and  one  commissioned  officer  and 
three  privates  on  detached  service.  During 
the  nine  months’  absence  seven  deaths  oc- 
curred. Many  others  had  been  discharged  by 


Eleventh  B.  I.  Eegiment. 


71 


reason  of  ill  health.  No  one  had  been  killed 
by  the  enemy- 

The  regiment  was  composed  of  men  of 
superior  character.  Of  the  full  thousand 
men,  eight  hundred  were  from  Providence 
and  the  remaining  two  hundred  were,  as 
stated  before,  from  four  near-by  towns.  Two 
hundred  of  the  men  from  Providence  were 
recruited  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  We  were  al- 
ways proud  of  companies  I and  K.  In  char- 
acter and  all  soldierly  conduct  they  reflected 
honor  upon  the  eleventh,  throughout  the  en- 
tire campaign.  Many  members  of  Company 
K have  carved  out  for  themselves  an  honor- 
able record.  I have  not  the  facts  in  many 
cases,  but  a few  have  come  under  my  ob- 
servation. 

Some  Private  Soldiers  in  Company  K. 

In  addition  to  the  record  of  the  commis- 
sioned officers  already  given,  I would  men- 
tion that  Corporal  Lauder  studied  medicine 
and  was  for  many  years  an  honorable  and 
honored  physician  and  brilliant  surgeon  in 
Bridgeport,  Conn. 

Corporal  Orlando  P.  Thomson,  a success- 


72 


Camp  Life. 


ful  business  man  in  New  York,  now  living  in 
Ridgewood,  N.  J. 

Orin  S-  Arnold  has  had  an  honorable 
career  in  Rhode  Island. 

Ermin  Baker,  after  his  discharge,  re- 
covered fairly  good  health  and  managed  for 
some  years,  till  his  death,  a successful  mer- 
cantile business  in  Providence. 

The  G-erlack  brothers  also  have  been  suc- 
cessful merchants  in  Providence.  One  of 
them  is  still  living. 

Josiah  R.  Goddard  became  a faithful  and 
useful  missionary  in  Burma,  Asia,  and  in 
China.  His  death  is  lately  reported. 

Robert  B.  Little,  a noble  man,  honest,  gen- 
erous and  public-spirited,  rose  to  a high  posi- 
tion in  business  and  in  public  life,  in  Provi- 
dence. He  died,  greatly  lamented,  a few 
years  ago. 

His  brother,  Christopher  Little,  and 
“ Billy  Patterson”  should  be  mentioned  in 
the  same  category. 

Walter  R.  D.  Vaughan,  William  H.  H. 
Sutton,  Sergeant  Viall,  Sergeant  Pond,  Wil- 
liam H.  Westcott  (alias  “Jacket”),  Sergeant 
Winsor,  his  brother,  Albert  W-  Winsor,  and 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


73 


many  others  in  our  company  should  receive 
honorable  mention. 

It  was  a company  deserving  high  praise 
and  I am  and  always  was  proud  of  it. 

I remember  on  a rainy  Sunday  when  we 
were  stationed  at  the  Convalescent  Camp,  I 
visited  in  the  afternoon  every  tent  in  my 
company.  In  twenty-three  cases  I found  the 
men  reading  the  Bible,  many  others  writing 
letters  to  their  homes. 

But  how  few  of  them  are  among  the  liv- 
ing at  this  day  — a half  century  later ! 

Closing  Reflections. 

In  closing  these  sketches  I am  impelled  to 
state  some  facts,  call  attention  to  others  and 
do  a little  moralizing. 

First,  as  to  the  time  at  which  it  was  or- 
ganized. This  was  in  September,  1862. 
Everything  was  at  a standstill.  The  great 
Peninsular  campaign  was  ended.  McClellan 
had  carried  his  army  within  a few  miles  of 
Richmond,  bnt  Richmond  was  not  captured. 
His  base  of  supplies  was  no  longer  up  the 
York  River,  but  the  James.  Prom  there  the 
army  was  ordered  back  to  the  Potomac. 


74 


Camp  Life. 


Thus  far  matters  had  not  been  favorable  to 
the  Union  army.  Business  was  paralyzed. 
Recruiting  was  slow.  The  whole  North  was 
disheartened-  President  Lincoln  dared  not 
issue  the  emancipation  proclamation.  Great 
Britain  and  France  seemed  ready  to  acknowl- 
edge the  Confederacy.  The  President  called 
for  300,000  nine  months’  men.  Enlistments 
began  slowly. 

That  was  not  the  time  when  the  dregs  of 
society  enlisted.  The  very  circumstances  of 
the  time  brought  to  the  11th  Regiment  a far 
better  class  of  men  than  usually  presented 
themselves.  Hence  the  quality  of  our  men. 
The  patriotic  men,  young  and  old  flocked  to 
our  standard.  The  impetus  given  by  the  fact 
that  two  entire  companies  were  recruited  by 
the  Providence  Y.  M.  C.  A.  helped  not  a little 
the  enlistments  at  other  recruiting  places. 

The  Service  We  Rendered. 

Another  matter  of  importance  was  in  re- 
gard to  the  kind  of  service  we  were  called 
upon  to  render. 

Through  our  entire  term  of  service  the 
general  wish  of  the  regiment,  officers  and  men, 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


75 


was  that  we  might  go  to  the  front  and  give 
effective  aid  in  putting  down  the  Rebellion. 
But  again  and  again  this  was  denied  us,  al- 
though strong  and  vigorous  requests  for  this 
purpose  were  made  repeatedly  to  the  mili- 
tary authorities  at  Washington-  They  were 
without  avail.  We  stayed  at  Miner’s  Hill, 
within  the  defenses  of  Washington,  just  three 
months,  one-third  of  our  term  of  service,  per- 
fecting ourselves  in  company,  battalion,  and 
brigade  drill.  It  was  tiresome,  but  we  did 
become  a well-drilled  regiment.  At  one  time 
when  we  were  encamped  at  “Deserted 
House,”  I was  looking  on,  at  our  afternoon 
dress-parade,  — being  ‘ ‘ officer  of  the  day  ’ ’ 
and  therefore  not  in  the  drill,  — when  a regu- 
lar army  officer,  from  a light  battery  sta- 
tioned near  us,  who  was  standing  by  my  side, 
exclaimed,  “What  regiment  is  that?  I did 
not  know  we  had  a regiment  here  from  the 
regular  army.  A remarkably  well-drilled 
body  of  men.  ’ ’ 

As  we  have  seen,  on  the  13th  of  January, 
1863,  we  were  ordered  to  move  to  ‘ ‘ The  Con- 
valescent Camp,”  between  Washington  and 
Alexandria,  to  do  guard  duty.  We  were  kept 


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Camp  Life. 


liere  doing  severe  and  unpleasant  duty,  in 
guarding,  night  and  day,  that  great  camp  of 
convalescent  soldiers  who  were  waiting  to  be 
returned  to  their  several  regiments  after 
being  discharged  from  the  hospitals.  Dis- 
agreeable, unpleasant,  arduous  duty!  Our 
guard  lines  extended  entirely  around  the 
Canvalescent  camp,  a distance  of  some  three 
or  four  miles.  When  my  company  was  on 
duty,  I was  obliged  as  captain  to  make 
‘ ‘ Grand  Rounds  ’ ’ in  the  night  between  twelve 
and  four  o’clock,  no  matter  how  stormy  or 
muddy  I found  it.  I sent  to  Washington  and 
procured  a good,  strong  pair  of  long-legged 
rubber  boots,  and  sometimes  my  feet  would 
sink  so  deep  in  the  mud  that  I would  pull  my 
foot  out  of  the  boot,  rather  than  pull  the  boot 
out  with  the  foot. 

Finally,  after  another  three  months,  we 
were  relieved  from  that  miserable  guard 
duty  and  on  the  16th  of  April,  we  embarked 
for  Suffolk.  Then  followed  our  campaign  at 
Suffolk  and  on  the  Peninsular  for  the  re- 
maining three  months. 

Thus  were  our  duties  assigned  to  us,  and 
however  agreeable  or  unpleasant,  the  11th 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Regiment. 


77 


Regiment  of  Rhode  Island  Volunteers  did 
everything  required  of  us  with  fidelity  and 
thoroughness.  We  never  shirked  our  duty. 

I will  only  mention  one  more  point,  and 
that  is  the  character  and  the  ability  of  the 
officers  of  this  regiment.  In  addition  to  what 
I have  said  of  the  high  character  of  the  en- 
listed men,  I beg  to  add : — 

Commissioned  Officers. 

The  11th  R- 1.  Regiment  was  well  officered. 
They  were  not  perfect.  They  sometimes  made 
mistakes,  but  they  were  all  first  class  men 
and  good  soldiers.  Moreover,  in  the  main, 
as  much  as  possible,  they  were  just  to  the 
men.  We  had  but  a very  few  courts-martial. 
None  of  any  consequence.  Not  one  worth 
mentioning  here. 

We  had  three  colonels,  Colonel  Edwin 
Metcalf,  till  November  11,  1862;  Colonel 
Horatio  Rogers,  from  December  27,  1862,  to 
January  31,  1863;  Colonel  George  E.  Church, 
from  February  11,  1863,  to  muster  out,  July 
13,  1863. 

Colonel  Metcalf  was  a prominent  attorney 
in  Providence,  a fine  soldier,  with  valuable 


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Camp  Life. 


experience,  a brave  man  of  large  ability,  and 
greatly  beloved  by  the  entire  regiment.  He 
was  offered  the  colonelcy  of  the  Third  Regi- 
ment, Rhode  Island  Heavy  Artillery,  and  ac- 
cepted. He  served  in  command  of  that  regi- 
ment till  his  resignation,  February  5,  1864, 
when  he  returned  to  Providence  and  resumed 
the  practice  of  law.  I saw  him  on  his  way 
home.  I rode  with  him  from  Westerly  to 
Providence.  In  conversation  he  remarked  to 
me  that  the  day  he  left  the  11th  Regiment 
was  a sad  day  for  him.  He  wanted  to  go  “to 
the  front”  and  certainly  thought  he  would 
have  a larger  chance  with  the  Third  Regi- 
ment than  with  the  11th.  But  he  found  that 
Third  Heavy  Artillery  just  bottled  up  at 
Hilton  Head,  with  no  chance  of  actual  service. 
During  the  time  of  his  service  there  his  wife 
died  in  Providence-  He  was  a disappointed 
and  discouraged  man. 

However,  after  his  return  to  Providence 
he  married  again  and  became  a consistant 
member  of  the  Congregational  church.  He 
was  a man  of  great  ability  and  a wise,  brave 
and  skillful  soldier.  He  was  followed,  in  the 
11th  by  Colonel  Horatio  Rogers,  Jr.,  a 


Eleventh  R.  I.  Eegiment. 


79 


younger  man,  brave,  brilliant,  and  a good  dis- 
ciplinarian. He  remained  with  ns  only  a 
month.  His  place  was  taken  by  Colonel 
George  E.  Cknrck.  He  commanded  the  11th 
about  five  months,  till  we  were  mustered  out, 
July,  1863.  Colonel  Church  was  a strong 
man,  of  great  energy  and  ambition,  a brave 
soldier,  who  after  the  war  made  a brilliant 
record  as  a railroad  man  in  South  America 
and  in  England.  He  died  recently,  and  in 
his  will  gave  to  Brown  University  his  valu- 
able library  of  about  3500  volumes,  many  of 
them  of  great  value,  on  the  geography,  his- 
tory, and  development  of  South  America. 

Our  lieutenant  colonel  for  the  entire 
period  of  our  enlistment  was  Lieut.  Col.  J. 
Talbot  Pitman,  an  experienced  soldier,  and  a 
man  of  energy  and  decision.  He  commanded 
the  regiment  in  the  absence  of  a colonel  about 
one  sixth  of  the  period  of  our  service. 

Robert  Fessenden  was  adjutant  during 
the  whole  campaign,  beloved  by  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  regiment,  prompt  and  faithful,  a 
lovable  man. 

Rev.  John  B.  Gould  filled  the  arduous  task 
of  chaplain  through  the  whole  term.  He  was 


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Camp  Life. 


a faithful,  conscientious,  careful  man,  always 
devoted  to  the  welfare  of  the  regiment. 

So  of  the  others,  major,  surgeons,  quarter- 
master and  all ; no  regiment,  I venture  to  say, 
from  the  state  of  Rhode  Island,  ever  had  a 
better,  broader,  more  intelligent,  braver,  or 
more  faithful  set  of  officers  than  %e  11th 
Regiment. 

Of  course,  complaints  would  be  made,  and 
soldiers,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  humanity, 
know  how  to  make  them.  But,  now,  as  we 
look  back  over  a full  half  century,  we  can 
not  but  honor  and  praise  our  officers. 


